Sudan army claims new S. Sudan push into Heglig
5 min readSudan’s army late Sunday claimed South Sudanese forces launched another push into the Heglig oil region, adding to mutual accusations surrounding stalled crisis talks in the Ethiopian capital.
“In South Kordofan state today the South Sudanese army crossed the Sudanese international border and went three kilometres (two miles) into the Heglig area,” army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saadwas quoted by the official SUNA news agency as saying.
The disputed border between the two countries is undemarcated, and tensions along the frontier have mounted since South Sudan separated in July last year after an overwhelming vote following Africa’s longest war.
Talks in Addis Ababa were called after clashes between north and South on Monday and Tuesday in the Heglig border area sparked global alarm and fears of a wider war.
On the eve of those talks late Friday, Sudan’s army alleged the South sent cannons and tanks to back a rebel attack on Talodi, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Heglig.
It said the rebels were defeated, suffering heavy losses.
The insurgents, from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), denied receiving Southern support and said the battle for Talodi was continuing for a third day on Sunday.
Late Saturday the Sudanese army spokesman alleged a battalion of South Sudanese troops had crossed the contested border and was moving towards Talodi.
Juba’s chief negotiator Pagan Amum dismissed the accusation as “categorically untrue” and instead said the north was planning further attacks along the disputed frontier.
“We are here … to attempt to make peace; the government of Sudan is waging war on South Sudan,” Amum said in Addis Ababa.
“The government of Sudan is bombing us as we speak,” said Amum, reporting fresh battles in the towns of Manga and Panakuach in Unity state.
A member of the Khartoum delegation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sudan “did not declare war and we have no intention to declare war”.
Teams from both countries have been in the Ethiopian capital for the African Union-led negotiations since Saturday, but so far there have been no Khartoum-Juba talks.
Amum said the north’s failure to send the head of its security delegation has delayed the proceedings but Khartoum’s foreign ministry spokesman, Al-Obeid Meruh, said the defence minister would join the delegation after attending to prior appointments Sunday and Monday.
Sudan’s delegation, in a statement issued by SUNA late on Sunday, repeated various accusations against South Sudan including the most recent alleged incursion into Heglig.
But it said Sudan still favours dialogue.
“We will make our best effort to cooperate with the government of South Sudan… in spite of all difficulties,” the statement said.
Last week’s clashes prompted Khartoum to call off an April 3 summit in Juba between President Omar al-Bashir and the South’s Salva Kiir.
Analysts said there were elements in Khartoum, as well as the South, opposed to recent moves towards warmer relations between the two countries and suggested last week’s flare-up over Heglig was an effort to sabotage a rapprochement.
http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-army-claims-sudan-push-heglig-221134267.html
S.Sudan accuses Sudan of new attacks, Khartoum denies it
By Aaron Maasho | Reuters ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – South Sudan on Sunday accused Sudan of bombing the oil-producing area straddling the two countries’ borders as talks aimed at ending the worst hostilities since Juba declared its independence were delayed.
Sudan’s army denied the accusations, however, saying no military operation had been conducted on Sunday following a series of clashes between the two armies in the contested border region in recent days.
“The government of Sudan attacked Manga today at two in the morning,” Pagan Amum, head of South Sudan’s negotiating team, told reporters in Addis Ababa where the African Union is trying to restart talks between the neighbours.
“Panakuach, also in Unity State, has been subjected to aerial bombardment today, including attacks by helicopter gunship,” he said. “As we speak, Sudan is bombing South Sudan.”
Sudanese army spokesman Sawarmi Khalid Saad denied the allegation. “There is no military operation today,” he said.
The United Nations and the United States fear the clashes could escalate and re-ignite a civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the South where most adhere to Christian and animist beliefs.
South Sudan became independent from Khartoum under a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war that killed two million people.
Both sides were supposed to resume talks this weekend but African Union officials said key members of Sudan’s delegation such as its defence minister and the chief-of-staff of its army had not yet arrived.
The two officials were expected in Addis Ababa “tonight or tomorrow morning,” a member of Sudan’s delegation told Reuters.
“The government of Sudan did not send the leader of their team. It is now clear that they have different intentions,” said Amum, the head of Juba’s delegation.
As well as agreeing a halt to further hostilities, the two sides need to decide how much the landlocked South must pay to export its crude oil through Sudan. Juba has shut down its entire oil production to stop Khartoum taking oil as compensation for what it calls unpaid transit fees.
Both countries have yet to mark the 1,800 km (1,200 mile) long border, much of which is disputed, or found a solution to the disputed border region of Abyei. Both sides also continue to accuse one another of supporting rebels on each other’s territory.
http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-accuses-sudan-attacks-khartoum-denies-143001490.html
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