Sudan, S.Sudan to talk security, eyeing oil restart
Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:39pm GMT
* Addis Ababa talks set to resume on Sunday
* Both countries depend heavily on oil
* Deep mistrust has plagued previous talks
By Ulf Laessing
KHARTOUM, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Arch-foes Sudan and South Sudan will come under
pressure to reach a partial deal to secure their border at talks next week
to clear the way for a resumption of oil exports and prevent a slide into
economic collapse and war, diplomats said.
The armies of both countries have already clashed along their contested
1,800km-long boundary since the South seceded last year without resolving
disputes including over the ownership of oil-producing territory.
The landlocked South shut down its entire crude output in January in a
further argument with Khartoum over how much it should pay to export through
Sudan. The move cut off the lifeblood of both economies.
The neighbours are expected to resume African Union-hosted negotiations in
Addis Ababa on Sunday after reaching an interim agreement on oil payments
this month. Sudan has said it wants a deal to guarantee security along the
border before South Sudan starts pumping oil again.
Getting crude flowing would be a shot in the arm for both countries' ailing
economies and could help align their interests as they seek a more
comprehensive deal to end border fighting, diplomats told Reuters.
Western and African diplomats said African Union (AU) mediators have
proposed a partial security deal, leaving more complicated issues such the
ownership of the symbolically important Abyei area to later.
"The plan is to get oil running so both can improve their economies and have
an incentive to keep talking about the rest," a Western diplomat said.
Faced with protests against spiralling inflation and harsh austerity
measures, Sudan will likely agree to a partial deal to get oil production
restarted, said Mahjoub Mohamed Saleh, editor of independent Sudanese daily
Al-Ayam.
Sudan's finance ministry has hailed the oil deal as a way to stabilise the
economy, which was battered by the loss of three-quarters of the country's
oil production - roughly 350,000 barrels per day - with the South's
secession.
South Sudan depended on oil for about 98 percent of state revenues, and so
will also be eager to resume exports.
"They (both) badly need the oil. Badly," Saleh said.
Even with a deal it could still take months to restart southern oil exports,
which mainly went to China. Industry sources say the two export pipelines
were flushed with water after the shutdown to avoid jelling and some wells
were not closed properly.
Still, diplomats have displayed more optimism than in earlier rounds of
talks, which have been marred by deep mistrust between the two sides built
up during decades of civil war and worsened by border clashes in April.
"It's a different game now. Things have moved on since the fighting and a
final deal is possible," an African diplomat from a country involved in the
talks said.
SECURITY, OIL
One of the key sticking points remains the demarcation of the border, along
which at least five areas are disputed.
The U.N. Security Council has given the two sides until Sept. 22 to solve
all issues or face sanctions but with a long list of conflicts AU mediators
want to focus initially on a security line to set up a 10-kilometre buffer
border zone.
South Sudan has signalled support, while Sudan is only opposing the security
line at one point which puts a 14-mile strip of land used by the Arab
Misseriya tribe on the South's side, several diplomats said.
"This is pretty much the only thing disputed. If Khartoum says 'yes', we'll
have a buffer zone," a Western diplomat said.
African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki has sought to assure Sudan drawing the
line will not mark the final border but Khartoum is worried it would lose
the "Mile 14" strip.
"This is the richest pasture land for the Misseriya," said Ayam editor
Saleh, adding that at Sudan's independence in 1956 maps showed it was part
of the northern administration.
Sudan also wants assurances Juba will end support to rebels of the Sudan
People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) operating in the border
states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Juba denies any link to the SPLM-North but many analysts and diplomats say
Khartoum's claim is credible. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by
Alexander Dziadosz and Andrew Heavens)
C Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
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Received on Tue Aug 21 2012 - 13:50:54 EDT
