Khartoum - The speaker of the Sudanese parliament, Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Tahir,
has warned South Sudan against causing the collapse of the cooperation deals
it signed with his country two months ago, accusing Juba of continuing to
support rebel groups in Sudan.
Al-Tahir told reporters in the capital Khartoum on Sunday that Sudan will
remain committed to the priority of border security before allowing South
Sudan to resume exporting its oil via Sudan.
The Sudanese official called on South Sudan to start implementing the
security arrangements deal they signed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa
on 27 September along with eight other deals covering resumption of South
Sudanese oil exports via Sudan and demarcation of borders among other issues
arising from the secession of South Sudan last year.
If the security deal is not implemented, there will be no resumption of oil
exports through Sudan, Al-Tahir stressed.
The security arrangement deal stipulates that each country should refrain
from supporting rebel groups in the other, and that a buffer demilitarized
zone should be established along the 1800-km common borders.
According to Al-Tahir, however, South Sudan is still actively engaged in
supporting rebel groups operating along the border areas, in reference to
the Sudan People's Liberation Movement North and its allies in the coalition
Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF).
Al-Tahir said that the border areas are rife with hostile activities and
that rebel groups continue to come from Juba with weapons. He added that
Juba is yet to sever its connections to the SPLM-N which fought alongside
South Sudan's army against Khartoum during the second Sudanese civil war.
Sudan's top MP insisted that Juba must first clear Sudan's borders from any
hostilities before resuming its oil exports.
Talks between Sudan and South Sudan on the implementation of the border
security deal hit a snag after Khartoum demanded South Sudan cooperation in
disarming SPLM-N combatants who have been fighting the Sudanese government
in the border regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile since last year.
South Sudan halted preparations to resume oil production pending a
breakthrough in the floundering security talks.
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Received on Mon Nov 19 2012 - 18:02:15 EST
