South Sudan completes withdrawal from flashpoint oil field of Heglig/Panthou
BENTIU – South Sudan, April 22, 2012 (AFP) – South Sudan’s army said Sunday it had completed its pullout from an oil field seized from the rival Sudanese regime, ending a bitter standoff which forced thousands of civilians to flee.
South Sudanese officials said the withdrawal from Heglig had been ordered to avert a return to all-out war. But they accused forces of the Khartoum-based Sudanese government of carrying out aerial bombardment on the departing troops.
The South’s troops seized Heglig on April 10, claiming Khartoum was using it as a base to attack the South’s oil-producing Unity State.
Heglig is internationally regarded as part of Sudan, although South Sudan disputes it. The 10-day occupation by the world’s newest nation met widespread criticism, including from UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who called it illegal.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Friday announced his forces would carry out “an orderly withdrawal” from the area. On Sunday, a Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman said all southern troops had left.
The SPLA “completed its withdrawal from Heglig yesterday” spokesman Philip Aguer told AFP.
But, he charged, as the withdrawal was ongoing, Khartoum’s air force “continued bombing on the night of the (Friday April) 20th and in the morning of the 21st”.
The two sides have offered contradictory explanations for recent developments in Heglig.
On Friday, Sudan said its soldiers had “liberated” the oil field by force, despite Kiir’s earlier announcement of a withdrawal.
The South Sudanese UN Ambassador Agnes Oswaha has said Juba decided to withdraw “because it does not wish to see a return to war.”
The Heglig violence was the worst since South Sudan won independence in July after a 1983-2005 civil war in which about two million people died.
The United Nations said Sunday the entire population of Heglig had fled the standoff, leaving thousands of civilians displaced in the open.
“According to the government of Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and other reports received by the UN, the entire civilian population of Heglig town and neighbouring villages fled,” the UN’s humanitarian agency said.
The report cited HAC figures saying 5,000 people had escaped from Heglig, mostly to the communities of Kharasana and Keilak, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Heglig, Sudan’s main oilfield.
Tensions have gradually mounted over the disputed border and other unresolved issues, raising fears in recent weeks about concerns of a wider war.
Continental and foreign powers have urged negotation to avert further escalation, with US President Barack Obama on Friday calling on the two sides to “have the courage to return to the table and negotiate and resolve these issues peacefully.”
Kiir heads to China on Monday for an official visit to a country long-considered Khartoum’s ally, although Beijing has developed closer ties with Juba, notably in the petroleum sector.
“China’s position on that issue is to promote dialogue and urge peace. It does not favour any side,” said Li Guangyi, professor at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Xiangtan in central China.
“Fighting is not only not beneficial to them (Sudan and South Sudan), it isn’t beneficial to China either,” he added.
The African Union (AU), which has for years sought to broker a sustainable peace between the bitter rivals, on Sunday again called for “a complete cessation of all hostilities,” and a swift resumption of talks.
Both sides should consider their “responsibility towards their region, the rest of Africa and the larger international community,” the AU statement said.
Since the invasion, oil production at Heglig has been shut and facilities there were leaking. Each side accused the other of damaging the oil infrastructure, which accounted for about half of the north’s production.
South Sudan formally gained independence from Khartoum in July.
Also on Sunday, Sudan claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on rebels from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) who allegedly attacked the strategic town of Talodi.
“Fighting is still going on,” Sudanese army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad told reporters, while a rebel spokesman reached by AFP had no information and said “things are not clear.”
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Sudan: 400 Southern Soldiers Killed in Fight Over Heglig
Sudanese officials claim that 400 South Sudan troops were killed during the battle for the flashpoint town of Heglig, an oil-producing area claimed by both countries.
South Sudanese troops completed their withdrawal from Heglig Sunday, saying the number of soldiers killed is just a fraction of what Sudan claims. Estimates of casualties in Sudan are impossible to verify.
The showdown over Heglig and its lucrative oil fields is raising fears of a full-scale war, less than a year after South Sudan declared independence from the north.
South Sudan said it pulled troops out of Heglig because of international pressure. But Sudan says the southern forces withdrew because they were on the verge of defeat.
The international community has pressed both sides to halt cross-border attacks and restart dialogue to settle unresolved issues, including oil revenue and citizenship disputes.
U.S. President Barack Obama is appealing to both governments to avoid war and return to peace talks. He says there is no military solution to their dispute.
Mr. Obama Saturday called on both governments to stop arming rebels across their borders and to allow aid groups access to people caught in the fighting.
The north and south signed a peace deal in 2005 that ended a 21-year civil war that killed more than two million people. The deal included an independence referendum for the south.
Renewed fighting on Sudan border near disputed oilfield
Fighting has broken out on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, shortly after the South pulled out of a disputed border town. South Sudanese military officials say they repulsed ground and air attacks.
Sudan confirmed there had been clashes, which come after 10 days of fighting over the oilfield town of Heglig.
Satellite pictures of the Heglig area released on Sunday suggest key oil installations were badly damaged in the fighting and are no longer operating.
The pictures were analysed by the US-funded Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), which says it is impossible to know who was responsible for the damage.
Sudan and South Sudan have accused each other of attacking oil facilities. On Friday South Sudan said it was withdrawing from Heglig, while Sudan said it forced out the South’s troops.
Access to the disputed border region around Heglig is limited, making it difficult to verify what is happening in the area.
The renewed fighting has been taking place to the south of the Heglig oilfields, although it is unclear which side of the disputed border it is happening.
Sudan military officials said its forces had repulsed a major rebel attack.
The BBC’s James Copnall who is in the border town of Bentiu says the fighting makes it clear that tension has not eased, and also underlines that all-out war is still a possibility.
He says South Sudan is building up its troops near the border, and is assuming that Sudan is doing the same.
‘Runway lengthened’
The satellite pictures provided by SSP suggest that the oil industry has been deliberately targeted in the earlier fighting.
One picture appears to show an oil collection point at the end of two pipelines has been destroyed, leaving charred wreckage over a wide area.
SSP says it is impossible to know whether the damage was done by aerial bombing or ground attacks.
Others show tanks, smoke rising from explosions that are consistent with aerial bombing, and cratering.
There are also pictures showing that the Sudan Air Force runway in South Kordofan has been paved and lengthened to allow Antonov bombers to land there.
SSP, which was set up to campaign against the return to full-scale civil war between the two countries, used pictures from DigitalGlobe satellites, which were analysed by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
SSP receives funding from the Not on Our Watch project, founded by US activists including the actors George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.
On Friday South Sudan said it would withdraw from the Heglig area, while Sudan said its forces had re-taken control of the area.
The area north of the disputed border provides most of of Sudan’s oil output, and is a crucial part of its economy.
Meanwhile on Monday the South Sudan President Salva Kiir is travelling to China for an official visit, Agence France-Presse reports.
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