One year on, U.S. sees Sudans in "mutual suicide" struggle
Mon Jul 9, 2012 10:38pm GMT
* U.S. sees little sign of differences narrowing
* Economic fallout hitting both countries
* U.S. urges South Sudan to restart oil production
By Lauren French
WASHINGTON, July 9 (Reuters) - Sudan and South Sudan are playing a dangerous
economic version of Russian roulette that threatens the success of both
countries, the top U.S. official for the region said on the first
anniversary of South Sudan's independence.
Princeton Lyman, U.S. special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, said frayed
relations between Juba and Khartoum will slow desperately needed growth
unless they can negotiate settlements to the border and oil issues that
remain unresolved one year after the South seceded.
"Each side thinks the other is more vulnerable," Lyman said. "But it is a
very dangerous attitude. It is kind of a mutual economic suicide approach."
Lyman's grim assessment came despite U.S. pressure on both sides to resolve
their differences, which threaten to overshadow the peaceful emergence of
South Sudan as Africa's newest independent state.
President Barack Obama's administration has promised to assist South Sudan
economically and offered Khartoum - which is on Washington's official list
of state sponsors of terrorism and has been under a U.S. trade embargo since
1997 - the prospect of better ties if the lingering disputes can be put to
rest.
PIPELINES AND POLITICS
Landlocked South Sudan erased 98 percent of its revenue in January when it
shut down oil production over a dispute with Khartoum about revenue sharing
and fees for a pipeline through Sudan - the South's only outlet for its oil
exports.
South Sudan, already one of the poorest countries in the world, now
struggles to provide basic services to its roughly 8.2 million citizens and
has left many of its people questioning when they will see material benefits
of independence.
Khartoum, which lost three quarters of its oil output and much of its income
when the South seceded, is now battling inflation and other economic woes
that have led to spreading public protests.
Last month Khartoum announced austerity measures to end subsidies on
commodities like sugar and fuel as the government, facing a mounting debt
crisis, could no longer afford the cost.
The growing economic crisis has compounded political friction between the
uneasy neighbors, whose supporters have been fighting in border regions such
as Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states and remain at loggerheads over the
fate of the disputed Abyei border region.
South Sudan gained its independence last year after two decades of war
between the mostly Christian south and the Arab northern populations left
more than two million people dead.
There have been negotiations since the South shuttered its oil production,
Lyman said, but few of the major issues have been resolved. He urged South
Sudan to restart oil production and work with Sudan to ease the tensions.
"One of the most immediate challenges for South Sudan is to take a hard,
pragmatic and courageous approach to its current economic crisis," Lyman
said. "Without oil revenue, many development projects now on the books will
be delayed."
The charge d'affaires for the Embassy of South Sudan in Washington, Dhanojak
Obongo, said his country was looking for alternatives to the Sudan oil
pipeline and planned to build a conduit through Djibouti in the next 30
months - a timeline Lyman said was "overly optimistic." (Reporting by Lauren
French. Editing by Andrew Quinn and Christopher Wilson)
C Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
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Received on Tue Jul 10 2012 - 18:16:40 EDT
