Obama urges talks between Sudan, South Sudan to avoid war
11 min read
Both Sudan and the South are reliant on their oil revenues, which account for 98% of South Sudan’s budget. But the two countries cannot agree how to divide the oil wealth of the former united state. Some 75% of the oil lies in the South but all the pipelines run north. It is feared that disputes over oil could lead the two neighbours to return to war.
Obama urges Sudan talks after Heglig ‘withdrawal’
The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan “must have the courage” to return to the negotiating table and resolve their differences peacefully, says US President Barack Obama.
He was speaking after South Sudan said it had ordered its troops to withdraw from the Heglig oil field in Sudan.
Within hours of Friday’s announcement, Sudan said it had retaken Heglig town.
South Sudanese forces captured the area last week, accusing Khartoum of using it as a base to launch attacks.
“We know what needs to happen,” said President Obama. “The government of Sudan must stop its military actions including aerial bombardments.
“It must give aid workers the access they need to save lives. And it must end its support for armed groups inside the South.”
Turning to the government of the newly independent South Sudan, Mr Obama said: “Likewise, the government of South Sudan must end its support for armed groups inside Sudan and it must cease its military actions across the border.
Analysis
Did they jump or were they pushed?
It may take a while to establish which version of events – Sudan’s glorious victory or South Sudan’s strategic withdrawal – is closest to the truth.
President Omar al-Bashir will certainly portray this as a triumph – and for him it is.
Even Sudanese who do not like him feel strongly Heglig is Sudanese, and regaining it will boost his popularity at a difficult economic time.
South Sudan has been able to push its point that Heglig – or Panthou as the South Sudanese call it – belongs to it. But that message has fallen on deaf ears.
The US, AU and the UN all condemned South Sudan’s takeover of the oilfields. On Thursday Ban Ki-moon called it “illegal”.
Both countries have been energised by the fighting – and perhaps pushed closer to economic ruin.
But the big question now is whether Heglig marks the high watermark of the fighting – or the start of a new war.
The escalating fighting and rhetoric between the two sides over the past week has led to fears of all-out war.
It is not clear whether Khartoum regained the area by force or whether South Sudanese troops withdrew, under intense international pressure.
South Sudan said its forces were still in the process of withdrawal; Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told AFP it would take three days to complete the operations.
President Omar al-Bashir on Friday told supporters at a victory rally in Khartoum: “We thank God that he made successful your sons; and the security forces and the police force and the defence forces – he has made them victorious on this Friday.”
South Sudan seceded last July following a 2005 peace deal that ended a two-decade civil war in which more than 1.5 million people died.
On Thursday, South Sudan issued a statement saying it was not interested in war with its northern neighbour and that it would only withdraw from Heglig if the UN deployed monitors there.
Main disputes between Sudans
- Transit fees the South should pay Sudan to use its oil pipelines
- Demarcating the border
- Both sides claim Abyei
- The rights of each other’s citizens now in a foreign country – there are estimated to be 500,000 southerners in Sudan and 80,000 Sudanese in the South
- Each accuses the other of supporting rebel groups on its territory
President Bashir had earlier threatened to bring down the government in Juba following the loss of Heglig, which provided more than half of Sudan’s oil.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir said the South still believed that Heglig was a part of South Sudan and that its final status should be determined by international arbitration, Associated Press reported.
Heglig is internationally accepted to be part of Sudanese territory – although the precise border is yet to be demarcated.
Other issues dividing the two countries are the transit fees the South should pay Sudan to use its oil pipelines and the status of the province of Abyei.
Obama urges talks between Sudan, South Sudan to avoid war
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama urged the leaders of Sudanand South Sudan on Saturday to stop the fighting between their countries and begin negotiations to settle their disputes, saying there was still a chance to avoid war.
In a videotaped message to the two bitter foes, Obama sought to prevent further escalation of border hostilities that have raised tensions to the highest level since South Sudan split away as an independent country in July, taking with it most of the country’s known oil reserves.
“You still have a chance to avoid being dragged back into war, which only leads to one place – more suffering, more refugees, more death,” Obama said.
He called Sudan to stop its military actions against its neighbor, including aerial bombardments, and said South Sudan must end its support for armed groups inside Sudan and also halt cross-border military operations.
South Sudan said on Friday it would withdraw its troops from the disputed Heglig oil region more than a week after seizing it from Sudan, pulling the countries back from the brink of a full-blown war.
Sudan quickly declared victory, saying its armed forces had “liberated” the area by force as thousands of people poured onto the streets of Khartoum cheering, dancing, honking car horns and waving flags.
But South Sudan on Saturday accused Sudan of bombing its troops as they pulled out of Heglig, dampening already faint hopes of any imminent settlement.
South Sudan’s seizure of the territory had raised the prospect of two sovereign African states waging war against each other openly for the first time since Ethiopia fought newly independent Eritrea in 1998-2000.
Since South Sudan’s secession last year under a 2005 peace deal, the countries have also remained at loggerheads over the position of their shared border and other disputes have already halted nearly all the oil production that underpins both economies.
Obama said the leaders of Sudan and South Sudan “must have the courage to return to the table and negotiate and resolve these issues peacefully.”
(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Vicki Allen)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-sudan-south-obamabre83k0d0-20120421,0,1698146.story
Sudan Conflict: Obama Warns War Is Not Inevitable
NAIROBI, Kenya — South Sudan and Sudan must stop all military actions against each other and resolve their disputes through negotiations to avoid going back to war, U.S. President Barack Obama said, as he outlined what needs to be done to prevent the conflict from escalating further.
Addressing the people of Sudan and South Sudan in a videotaped message released Friday, Obama said that the heated rhetoric from the two countries has raised the risk of war, but conflict is not inevitable.
“It doesn’t have to be this way…You still have a choice. You still have a chance to avoid being dragged back into war, which only leads to one place – more suffering; more refugees; more death; more lost dreams for you and your children,” he said.
Obama said the government of Sudan must stop its military actions, including aerial bombardments in the South and it must give aid workers the access they need to save lives. Sudan must also end its support for armed groups inside the South, he said.
Likewise, he said the government of South Sudan must end its support for armed groups inside Sudan and it must cease its military actions across the border.
“And all those who are fighting including in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile must recognize that there is no military solution. The only way to achieve real and lasting security is to resolve your differences through negotiation,” Obama said.
Sudan and South Sudan have been drawing closer to a full scale war in recent months over the unresolved issues of sharing oil revenues and a disputed border. The disputes began even before the south seceded from the north in July 2011. The South’s secession was part of a 2005 peace treaty which ended decades of war that killed 2 million people.
Sudan and South Sudan both claimed Friday to be in control of a contested oil town near the countries’ ill-defined border after the south said it was withdrawing its troops to avert a return to war.
Last week, South Sudanese troops took over the border town of Heglig, which they call Panthou, sending Sudanese troops fleeing and sparking condemnation from the U.N., America and Britain.
Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir on Wednesday threatened to topple the South Sudan government after accusing the south of trying to take down his Khartoum-based government. Al-Bashir continued his hardline rhetoric on Thursday in an address to a “popular defense” brigade headed to the Heglig area.
Negotiations between the two countries over the unresolved disputes that were being mediated by the African Union, broke down in Ethiopia earlier this month.
Obama said the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan must have the courage to resume negotiations and resolve the disputes peacefully.
“You will never be at peace if your neighbor feels threatened. You will never see development and progress if your neighbor refuses to be your partner in trade and commerce. It’s easier to start wars than to end them,” he said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/21/sudan-conflict-obama_n_1442832.html
Obama Urges South Sudan and Sudan to End Strife
By HELENE COOPER, April 21, 2012
WASHINGTON — President Obama urged Sudan and South Sudanto end their fighting and begin negotiations to settle the intensifying conflict between the newly separated countries.
In a video message recorded in the White House and released late Friday, Mr. Obama put part of the onus on the government of Sudan, which he said “must stop its military actions, including aerial bombardments.” He said the heated words between the countries had raised the risk of war at a time when neither side can afford continued conflict.
Mr. Obama did not let South Sudan off the hook either. “Likewise, the government of South Sudan must end its support for armed groups inside Sudan, and it must cease its military actions across the border,” Mr. Obama said.
The two countries have been edging toward full-scale war in a dispute over sharing oil revenue. They also continue to fight over their disputed border. South Sudan seceded from Sudan last year, part of a peace treaty in 2005 that was supposed to end the long-running conflict there.
“The presidents of Sudan and South Sudan must have the courage to return to the table,” Mr. Obama said.
His message, released by the State Department, was broadcast in both Arabic and English.
“Today I want to speak directly to you, the people of Sudan and the people of South Sudan,” Mr. Obama said in the video. “In recent years, against great odds, you’ve made remarkable progress.” He warned that “now all that progress is at risk of unraveling.”
Mr. Obama described the situation as a choice. “You still have a chance to avoid being dragged back to war,” he said.
His appeal came after Sudan said its military had chased South Sudanese troops out of a contested region. In a speech at a rally in the capital, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir called South Sudanese leaders “insects” and dismissed their statements that they were voluntarily withdrawing troops from the disputed Heglig oil field.
The United States, the United Nations and the African Union condemned South Sudan for sending troops into Heglig last week and bringing the two countries to the brink of war. But South Sudan, which calls the area Pantho, said it considered the area part of the south.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international organization, ruled in 2009 that Heglig was outside the borders of the contested area of Abyei that lies between Sudan and South Sudan, and thus belonged to the government in Khartoum.
Obama to Sudan, South Sudan: Conflict Is Not Inevitable
Kent Klein
President Barack Obama is appealing to the governments and people of Sudan and South Sudan to avoid a return to war. The president called for peaceful negotiations, in a video message posted Friday on the Internet site YouTube.
After more than a week of military skirmishes along the border between the two Sudans, President Obama called on the people of both nations to turn away from further armed conflict.
“It does not have to be this way. Conflict is not inevitable. You still have a choice,” he said. “You still have a chance to avoid being dragged back into war, which only leads to one place: more suffering, more refugees, more death, more lost dreams for you and your children.”
Obama said there is no military solution to the conflict. He called on the presidents of the two countries to have the courage to return to the negotiating table.
“The government of Sudan must stop its military actions, including aerial bombardments. It must give aid workers the access they need to save lives. And it must end its support for armed groups inside the South,” he said. “Likewise, the government of South Sudan must end its support for armed groups inside Sudan, and it must cease its military actions across the border.”
Sudan’s government says its military has now taken control of oil fields in the disputed area of Heglig.
South Sudan seized the oil fields on April 10, sparking fears of an all-out war. The government in Juba says its forces will soon be completely out of Heglig, but the status of the area, and of other contested regions, should be determined by international arbitration.
President Obama warned that the constant threat of war is hampering development in both countries.
“You will never be at peace if your neighbor feels threatened. You will never see development and progress if your neighbor refuses to be your partner in trade and commerce,” he said.
Sudan and South Sudan have disagreed over borders, oil and citizenship since the South became an independent nation last July.
North and south Sudan fought a 21-year civil war, in which about two million people were killed.
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