Sudan, South Sudan leaders to try to defuse tension at summit
By Ulf Laessing
KHARTOUM | Thu Jan 3, 2013 6:13pm EST
(Reuters) - The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan meet on Friday to make
another attempt to defuse hostilities after their countries split and
restart cross-border oil flows to throw their beleaguered economies a
lifeline.
Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir have both
signaled possible concessions at the talks in Addis Ababa to end a stalemate
over how to set up a demilitarized buffer zone after the countries came
close to war in April.
They signed agreements at a meeting in the Ethiopian capital in September to
resume oil exports and secure the volatile border, but sharing deep mistrust
after fighting one of Africa's longest civil wars, neither country has
implemented the deals.
Both countries badly need the oil exports, for which Juba has to pay
Khartoum millions of dollars. But analysts say they also need the
confrontation with the other side to shore up domestic legitimacy and divert
attention from their crumbling economies and widespread corruption.
The African Union, backed by Western powers, urged them to hold Friday's
talks to try again to reach a deal.
Sudan's state news agency SUNA said late on Thursday Bashir would meet Kiir
to discuss "speeding up" implementing the September deals. Kiir said in a
speech on New Year's Eve the South was ready to withdraw its troops.
But diplomats remain skeptical of a quick breakthrough because both
countries have a history of signing and then not implementing the
agreements.
Since April's flare up, the worst violence since South Sudan seceded in 2011
after a 2005 peace deal ending the civil war, they have pulled back their
armies from the almost 2,000 km (1,200 miles) border, much of which is
disputed.
Both sides say such a buffer zone is necessary before oil from the
landlocked South can flow through Sudanese territory. Juba shut down its
entire output of 350,000 barrels a year ago after failing to agree on an
export fee.
TRADING ACCUSATIONS
They agreed in September not just to set up the buffer zone and restart oil
exports but also to open the border for trade and start a monetary
cooperation - none of which saw the light of day.
South Sudan's oil minister, Stephen Dhieu Dau, said on Wednesday it would
delay resuming oil exports until at least mid-March even if Juba solves all
security conflicts with Sudan at the summit - the such first forecast since
November.
South Sudan accused Sudan on Thursday of launching air strikes on the
southern side of their border on Wednesday, wounding several civilians.
Sudan's armed forces were not immediately available for comment but have
regularly denied southern accusations of attacks in the past.
In turn, Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting rebels of the Sudan
People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) in two border states. Juba
denies the accusation and says Sudan is backing militias on its territory.
The enmity remains deep and diplomats say both sides tend see such summits,
the latest in a series of bilateral talks, more as a way of focusing on the
other's weaknesses, rather than primarily as a way to solve their conflicts.
In Sudan, some officials think, diplomats say, Kiir has made a grave mistake
by shutting down the oil production, depriving state coffers of 98 percent
of revenues, with some saying South Sudan's leadership might soon run out of
money.
In Juba, many officials believe that Bashir's government might collapse due
to popular dissent over spiraling inflation and cracks inside his ruling
circles. The government said in November it had uncovered a plot attempt
against Bashir.
Faced with such mutual mistrust, the African Union will try at the summit to
get some sort of border security agreement under way to help restart the oil
flows.
Once that happens, the hope among diplomats is that both have an incentive
to keep talking and sort out their remaining conflicts such as the final
status of Abyei and other disputed border regions.
S.Sudan accuses Sudan of bombing before leaders' summit
Thu Jan 3, 2013 12:09pm EST
* South says civilians injured, no comment from Sudan
* Deep distrust after decades of north-south civil war
* Presidents due to meet in Ethiopia on Friday (Edits)
JUBA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - South Sudan accused Sudan of launching air strikes
on the southern side of their disputed border shortly before the leaders of
the oil-producing African countries were due to meet to defuse tensions.
Several civilians were wounded in the attack in the southern state of
Western Bahr El Ghazal on Wednesday, South Sudan's Information Minister
Barnaba Marial Benjamin told journalists.
Sudan's armed forces were not immediately available for comment but have
regularly denied southern accusations of attacks in the past.
The two countries have been at loggerheads over oil, territory and a string
of other disputes since the South split away from Sudan last year under the
terms of a peace deal.
They came close to war in April and have yet to withdraw their armies from
their shared boundary or resume oil exports from the landlocked South north
through Sudanese pipelines.
Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his South Sudan counterpart Salva
Kiir were due meet at a summit in Ethiopia on Friday to discuss how to set
up the demilitarised border zone they agreed upon at a meeting in September.
Both presidents said this week they wanted to implement the September deals
but diplomats are sceptical about the chances of a quick breakthrough.
CIVILIANS INJURED
"There were attacks yesterday (Wednesday) ... in the area of Kit Kit ...
There was both ground and aerial bombardment," South Sudan's Barnaba Marial
Benjamin told journalists in the South's capital Juba.
"The South Sudan armed forces were able to repulse the attack but the aerial
bombardment has caused a lot of injuries to the civilians in the area," he
said.
Sudan's army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid could not be reached on his mobile
phone.
Sudan regularly denies launching air strikes against the South though
Reuters reporters witnessed several attacks when border fighting escalated
in April. The ownership of many areas close to the border is disputed by
both countries.
South Sudan, which inherited three-quarters of oil production when it broke
away, shut down its entire output of 350,000 barrels a day in January after
tensions over pipeline fees escalated.
Both sides have a history of first signing and then not implementing
agreements due to a deep mistrust going back to the north-south civil war,
fuelled by oil, ethnicity and ideology that led up to last year's partition.
Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting rebels who operate in two states on
the border with South Sudan. Juba has denied the charge and accuses Khartoum
of backing rebels on its territory.
Both countries need the oil to support their crumbling economies. Analysts
say both governments are also using the confrontation to shore up domestic
support and divert attention from a lack of development. (Reporting by Misuk
Moses and Carl Odera in Juba; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew
Heavens)
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Received on Thu Jan 03 2013 - 18:46:37 EST
