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Sudan vows to respect UN Security Council resolution

04 May 2012 03:29 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Sudan has pledged to cease hostilities with South Sudan, respecting a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution, but reserves the right to defend itself against aggression from the South, APA reports quoting Press TV.

"Foreign Minister (Ali Ahmed Karti) announces that the government of Sudan welcomes the UN Security Council resolution, which was issued on Wednesday...The government of Sudan will fully commit to what has been issued in the resolution about stopping hostilities with South Sudan according to the time limits issued," the spokesman for the Sudanese Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on Thursday, AFP reported.

"The government of Sudan hopes the other party will commit to stop the hostilities completely and withdraw its troops from the disputed areas so as not to put SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) in a situation where it has to defend itself," the statement added.

On Wednesday, the UNSC unanimously approved the resolution, which called on Khartoum and Juba to â€œimmediately cease all hostilities" by giving a written commitment to end fighting by the end of 48 hours, and to resume negotiations within two weeks under an African Union (AU) roadmap to ultimately reach an agreement in the course of three months.

According to the resolution, if either side fails to abide by the terms, â€œadditional measures" under Article 41 of the UN Charter, which obligates non-military sanctions, will be taken.

The Security Council condemns repeated cross-border conflicts between the two sides and the South’s seizure of Sudanâ€™s main oil-rich town of Heglig last month.

On April 24, the AU had also asked the two neighbors to end hostilities and engage in peace talks.

Heglig, located in southern Sudan, is internationally regarded as part of Sudan, something South Sudan disputes.

Jubaâ€™s troops occupied Heglig on April 10. Ten days later, Khartoum announced that the Sudanese Army had forced Southern Sudanese troops out of the town.

Sudan also accuses the South, which seceded from the Republic of Sudan in July 2011 after decades of conflict with the north, of supporting anti-government rebels operating in the Darfur region and the southern states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.