Sudan will revise oil transit fee demand in talks with South
Wed Jul 25, 2012 3:33pm GMT
* Sudan, South Sudan resume talks on oil payments
* First round since border fighting escalated in April
By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA, July 25 (Reuters) - Sudan will revise its transit fee demand
for South Sudan's oil exports when the African neighbours resume talks to
end an oil dispute for the first time since border fighting escalated in
April, a Sudanese official said on Wednesday.
The U.N. Security Council has given the foes until Aug. 2 to end all
disputes or face sanctions. The neighbours came close to a war in April when
their armies fought for weeks along the disputed border, the worst violence
since South Sudan's secession a year ago under a 2005 peace agreement.
The African Union has been trying to mediate but both countries remain at
loggerheads over where to mark the disputed border and how much landlocked
South Sudan should pay to export oil through the north.
Both countries will be discussing on Thursday South Sudan's oil payments at
talks in Addis Ababa, the first time since the South briefly occupied the
Heglig oilfield in April which contributed much to Sudan's oil output.
Juba shut down 350,000 barrels per day output in January after Khartoum
started taking some oil for what it called unpaid transit fees.
South Sudan said on Monday it was willing to pay $9.10 and $7.26 per barrel
to transport oil through two pipelines passing Sudan alongside a $3.2
billion dollar package to compensate for the loss of most oil reserves to
the north.
This offer is higher than before but still well below Sudan's last demand of
$36 a barrel for both pipelines.
"Our position will be developed in accordance with the new position that has
been presented by South Sudan in their comprehensive paper," said Mutrif
Siddiq, spokesman for Sudan's negotiations team in Addis Ababa.
"Our paper is going to be revised accordingly and we'll see where we meet
and where we differ and we'll try to approximate the differences as much as
we can through the discussions that will take place tomorrow," he said when
asked whether Khartoum was willing to lower its demand.
Oil provides about 98 percent of South Sudan's income. Juba is trying to
develop infrastructure and institutions devastated by a war that killed an
estimated 2 million people.
The latest round of talks, mediated by former South African President Thabo
Mbeki, have broken down several times over where to set up a demilitarized
border buffer zone - seen as a first step to ending hostilities.
Sudan has said it wants to make border security a priority at the talks. It
accuses Juba of supporting rebels in two border states, a claim denied by
South Sudan.
(Corrects after U.S. embassy said man not a U.S. citizen)
* First trial of activists arrested amid protests
* Sudan faces economic crisis and high inflation
* Human rights groups say as many as 2,000 arrested
KHARTOUM, July 25 (Reuters) - A Sudanese court on Wednesday charged two men
including a U.S. resident of forming a terrorist organisation, in the first
trial of people arrested during a spate of anti-government protests that
broke out more than a month ago.
Security forces arrested Radwan Daoud, whose origins are in Sudan's western
Darfur region, and Ahmed Ali Mahjoub about two weeks ago at a house in a
Khartoum suburb.
Daoud has legal permanent resident status in the United States, according to
the U.S. embassy in Sudan.
Sudanese authorities said they found political materials calling for
demonstrations and regime change in the house.
In the first session of their trial, the two were charged with "forming a
terrorist organisation, working to change the regime by force, criminal
conspiracy, criminal participation and inciting unrest", defence lawyer
Muatasim Taj El-Ser said.
The crimes carry sentences of up to 10 years in prison, he said. The judge
dismissed charges against 10 other people and ordered their release.
Sudan avoided the wave of popular protests that unseated rulers in
neighbouring Libya and Egypt last year, but austerity measures aimed at
containing an economic crisis led to small demonstrations calling for
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's government to resign.
Activists led by students have sought to use public anger over rising food
prices to build a broader movement to topple the government.
Sudanese activists estimate that as many as 2,000 people have been arrested
since the protests broke out in June, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International said in a joint report this month.
The crisis is rooted largely in the secession of oil-producing South Sudan a
year ago. The new nation took about three-quarters of Sudan's crude output,
leaving Sudan with a budget gap, high inflation and a depreciating currency.
The two sides are meeting in Addis Ababa to discuss issues including how
much the landlocked South should pay to export oil through pipelines and
other infrastructure in Sudan - fees which could ease Sudan's crisis - but
have so far failed to agree. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by
Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Andrew Roche and Mark Heinrich)
C Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
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Received on Wed Jul 25 2012 - 14:59:03 EDT
