Sudan to redraw borders in conflict-hit oil region
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cq0/EXP=1357238845/**http%3A/www.reuters.com/> Reuters Middle EastReuters
Middle East
* Move could anger rebels in area bordering S. Sudan
* W. Kordofan likely to contain govt allies, most oilfields
* Fighting has raged in remote territory more than a year
KHARTOUM, Dec 20, 2012 (Reuters) - Sudan will re-draw the borders
in its main oil-producing region, state media said on Thursday,
a move which could anger rebels fighting in the remote territory
bordering South Sudan.
The change will create a West Kordofan state, which would
likely cover an area containing many of the area's oilfields and
dominated by largely pro-government Arab nomads.
The government did not provide maps of the new territory.
But it was likely areas left outside West Kordofan would
include the underdeveloped Nuba Mountains, home to non-Arab
ethnic minorities, many of whom have provided fighters for rebel
forces seeking to overthrow the Khartoum government.
No one was immediately available for comment from the
region's main rebel group SPLM-North.
The change would happen during Sudan's independence
anniversary ceremonies - which usually begin on Jan. 1 - to
"realise the desires of the people of the region," state news
agency SUNA said in a brief report, quoting Vice President Ali
Osman Taha.
More than a year of fighting between rebels and government
forces in the border territories has strained relations with
South Sudan, which declared independence from Sudan last year
under the terms of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil
war.
The partition left thousands of fighters who sided with the
south during the civil war inside Sudan in the current state of
South Kordofan.
The SPLM-North insurgents have continued to fight government
forces, accusing Khartoum of marginalising their people.
Sudan has regularly accused South Sudan of supporting the
SPLM-N fighters, a charge southern leaders dismiss.
It was unclear whether the new West Kordofan would include
the area of Abyei - a territory claimed by both Sudan and South
Sudan that has seen serious clashes between both sides' armies
in recent years.
The area used to have a West Kordofan state but its
territory was divided between the current states of North
Kordofan and South Kordofan around the time of the 2005 peace
deal between Khartoum and the south.
The SUNA report did not say whether the country would return
to exactly the same boundaries as before the change.
(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz;
Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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Received on Thu Dec 20 2012 - 18:41:34 EST
