Negotiators for Sudan and South Sudan have held their first talks since deadly border fighting last month, amid fresh accusations by the South of air attacks by Sudan.

Teams from both sides are in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for African Union-led talks which were stalled by heavy clashes last month, the worst fighting since the South won independence last July.

Idriss Mohammed Abdel Qadir from Khartoum and Pagan Amum from Juba began Tuesday’s talks mediated by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, and also attended by the US special envoy on Sudan, Princeton Lyman.

Sudan stressed on Tuesday its “commitment to reach a negotiated settlement to all issues of differences” and promised “its full adherence to peace and stability between the two countries”, it said in a statement released as talks began.

Sudan said it hoped the talks would mark a “new chapter” in relations “away from conflict and warring”.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Harriet Martin reporting from Khartoum said that there was a cautious sense of optimism among those involved in the talks.  Read more…

By Aaron Maasho and Hereward Holland

ADDIS ABABA/JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan accused Sudan of launching fresh bombing raids on its territory on Tuesday, casting a shadow over the resumption of talks to avoid a collapse into all-out war between the African oil-producers.

The reports, which could not be confirmed independently, came hours before the neighbours sat down to their first direct negotiations since a series of clashes broke out along their disputed border in April.

As officials gathered for the discussions in Ethiopia, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, information minister for newly-independent South Sudan, told reporters Sudanese war planes had continued bombing raids that started over the weekend.

“Today the Sudan armed forces are still bombing in Warguet area (Northern Bahr el Ghazal),” he said in the southern capital Juba.

“Maybe they want to negotiate from a position of strength as they usually do. This is not the first time they have done it.”

Sudan’s army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid was not immediately available to comment, but the government routinely denies bombing the South.

South Sudan split away from Sudan in July last year without settling a string of bitter disputes over the position of their shared border, oil transit fees, the ownership if disputed territories and other issues.  Read more…

By Hereward Holland

JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan accused Sudan on Monday of flying warplanes over the southern capital Juba and bombing other parts of its territory, one day before the resumption of negotiations between the two foes.

South Sudan”s ruling Sudan People”s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party secretary general and head of the South Sudan delegation Pagan Amum smiles after a meeting with Sudan”s President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum March 22, 2012.

The two Sudans have been at loggerheads over a long list of disputes since the southern nation declared independence in July last year. Fierce clashes on the disputed border raised fears of an all-out war last in April.

“Yesterday the Sudanese air force violated the airspace of South Sudan, including flying over Juba and other towns in South Sudan,” the south’s chief negotiator Pagan Amum told reporters at Juba airport before leaving for the talks in Addis Ababa.

He described the over-flights as a violation of a May 2 U.N. Security Council resolution that called on the neighbours to end fighting and resume talks or face sanctions.

“Today, as we are leaving to the negotiations, the government of Sudan is attacking South Sudan. Now, as we speak, (the state of) Northern Bahr el Ghazal is under attack by the Republic of Sudan by land and also aerial bombardment is continuing … (These are) not signs of peace,” Amum said.

Sudan’s army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid could not be reached on his mobile phone. The foreign ministry was also not immediately available for comment.  Read more…

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the announcement of the Governments of Sudan and South Sudan to resume talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, next week, under the auspices of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel.

“The Secretary-General encourages the parties to reconvene in an atmosphere of goodwill and calls on them to demonstrate the flexibility necessary to reach agreement on outstanding issues in accordance with the guidance and deadlines set by the African Union Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council,’ Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.

South Sudan became independent from Sudan in July last year, six years after the signing of a peace agreement that ended decades of warfare between the north and south. However, the peace between the two countries has been threatened recently by clashes along their common border and outstanding post-independence issues that have yet to be resolved.

Tensions increased in recent weeks after South Sudanese forces moved into the oil-producing region of Heglig in Sudan’s South Kordofan state before eventually departing, and Sudanese forces engaged in the bombardment of South Sudanese territory.

Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said that the Secretary-General reiterated the readiness of the United Nations to assist the parties implement their agreements and support the mechanisms established by them.

“He stresses the necessity of commencing the work of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism for peace and security along the border and confirms UNISFA’s readiness to immediately support its operations,” the spokesperson added.  Read more…

By Pascal Fletcher

JUBA (Reuters) – The United Nations should impose sanctions on Sudan for failing to obey a Security Council resolution calling for an end to hostilities and renewed negotiations with South Sudan over oil and border disputes, South Sudan’s negotiator said on Friday.

Pagan Amum told Reuters Khartoum had not complied with the May 2 resolution giving neighbours Sudan and South Sudan, under threat of sanctions, two weeks to resume talks over their differences, which boiled over into border clashes last month.

He said while South Sudan, which became the world’s newest independent nation last year, had signalled its readiness to restart talks immediately, its neighbour had carried out air attacks after May 2 and had not moved to resume negotiations.

“They have violated the timeline,” Amum, Secretary-General of South Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), said in an interview in the South Sudanese capital Juba.

He urged the U.N. Security Council to “impose sanctions now and take measures against Khartoum”.

A spokesman for Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said Amum’s remarks were “unfortunate” and accused the south of violating the Security Council resolution by continuing its “aggression” in Sudan’s territory.  Read more…

Sudan has stepped up harassment of journalists, censorship, and arrests of political opponents in the wake of recent fighting with South Sudan, Human Rights Watch said today.
“Sudan is cracking down on civil and political rights in the face of conflict and opposition,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “But locking up critics and silencing dissent will not solve Sudan’s problems.”
Fighting in mid-April, 2012, between Sudan and South Sudan, which became independent on July 9, 2011, along their disputed border provoked an atmosphere of heightened hostility accompanied by increased repression in Sudan. Security officials have harassed and threatened journalists and political opposition members and more than 15 journalists have been banned from working in recent months, according to journalist groups in Sudan.
In one high-profile example, National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) officials summoned a prominent Sudanese journalist and human rights defender, Faisal Mohamed Salih, to their office in Khartoum for several hours of questioning on the night of April 25 about comments he made on Al Jazeera’s Arabic television. Salih teaches journalism and is known as an independent, non-partisan commentator.   Read more…

The tactical calculations in the conflict between North and South Sudan are staggeringly complex but they have one thing in common: neither party has the slightest consideration for the wellbeing of the population. I tend to feel that there is little use for analyses when the men in charge are so determined to wear each other out at any cost.

Alex de Waal’s conclusion that the parties are unable to compromise seems to be about the only sensible thing to say. The other issues he mentions follow from this inability to co-operate and compromise. Both parties have operated under the assumption that the other side would eventually try to get the upper hand – and rightly so: Khartoum and Juba constantly look for slight advantages on the ground, with public opinion, in the international arena.

To discuss both parties’ rationale in the conflict is pure speculation. If I were to give it a shot my analysis would run along the lines of a mutual expectation with the NCP and the SPLM that the other side will, sooner or later, crumble and lose the ability to continue its rule.

At the time of signing the CPA, the NCP might have believed it would be better to leave the South to its own devices for a while and concentrate on reinforcing its grip on the North. Knowing that the South Sudan government would depend entirely on oil revenue while the existing pipelines run through the North and estimating that an alternative (up-hill) line to Kenya would be too expensive, the NCP calculated that the SPLM would rather contribute to the North’s economy by paying high oil transport fees than risk being cut off from any revenues at all.

The NCP probably also figured that fear of revenue loss combined with the fear of losing too much credit internationally could refrain Juba from taking action when the Sudan Armed Forces would try to deal with the remaining SPLA forces in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. After all, that is an internal affair. Furthermore, the NCP might have thought that, with its obvious lack of development and human resources and all the ensuing problems of corruption, popular discontent and tribal conflict, the South might well implode within a few years.  Read more…

By Ngor Arol Garang

May 11, 2012 (JUBA) – South Sudan on Friday called on the international community to exert pressure on the government of neighbouring Sudan to immediately withdraw its troops from the contested border region of Abyei.

A UNMIS peacekeeper patrol in Abyei, Southern Sudan, Friday, March 11, 2011 (AP)

On Thursday 10 May Juba announced that it had completely withdrawn its police forces out of the contested area, as stipulated by a 2 May resolution of the UN Security Council, which called on both countries to move their forces out of the region.

South Sudan has announced that it is willing to comply with all aspects of resolution 2046, which calls on both sides to resume negotiations on post-partition issues and signed deal with three months.

The UNSC resolution endorsed the proposals of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC), which also called on the Khartoum government and rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile to negotiate and end to their conflict, based on the agreement Sudan’s president Omar Hassan al-Bashir discarded last year.

Bashir has expressed unwillingness to comply fully with the demands of the UN and AU. “We only do the things we want to do. And no security council or the whole world for the matter can force us to act otherwise,” Bashir said Thursday.

Since Abyei was captured by the Sudan Armed Forces in May 2011, the UNSC has repeatedly called for both nations to withdraw from the dispute region, the status of which was due to have been decided in a referendum in January 2011. The vote did not go ahead due to disagreement over who could take part.  Read more…

UBA (Reuters) – South Sudan said on Thursday it was ready to reopen negotiations immediately with its northern neighbour Sudan to try to resolve oil, security and frontier disputes that ignited border fighting last month.

Sudan’s President al-Bashir welcomes his South Sudanese counterpart Kiir on his arrival at Khartoum Airport on October 2011

Minister of Cabinet Affairs Deng Alor told reporters that his country, which became independent from Sudan last year, was committed to complying with a U.N. Security Council resolution last week that called on both countries to negotiate their differences peacefully or face sanctions.

“We are ready to go for negotiations any time … I expect negotiations to resume any time from now,” Alor told a news conference in the South Sudanese capital Juba.

The May 2 Security Council resolution endorsed an African Union plan demanding that Khartoum and Juba cease hostilities, withdraw troops from disputed areas and resume talks within two weeks on all outstanding disputes. It gave them three months to resolve the issues under threat of sanctions.

South Sudan on Wednesday accused Sudan’s armed forces of carrying out fresh bombing raids on border areas. Khartoum routinely denies such accusations.

But Alor said the new attacks alleged by his government did not affect its commitment to resume talks with Sudan on the thorny issues of oil exports, security, border demarcation and citizenship that have remained unresolved since South Sudan became the world’s newest independent nation last year.

“We are ready to go the extra mile to negotiations,” he said. “Nobody is interested in war, we don’t want it, the international community doesn’t want it and the region doesn’t want it.”

Alor said South Sudan was waiting for former South African President Thabo Mbeki, the head of a high-level AU panel tasked with resolving the disputes between north and south, to formally call the two sides to resume negotiations on a specific date.  Read more…

By Yara Bayoumy

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Sunday he would not allow conflict with South Sudan to overshadow “strategic relations” with its people, striking a less confrontational tone over a crisis that has raised fears of war.

After South Sudan seized the contested Heglig oilfield last month, Bashir vowed to free the South’s citizens from the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement whom he called “insects”.

During a month of conflict, the United Nations condemned Sudan’s air strikes on South Sudan’s territory and international pressure forced the South to withdraw from Heglig.

The fighting prompted the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution threatening sanctions if they did not follow an African Union roadmap to stop fighting and return to talks.

On Sunday Bashir said South Sudanese government’s “infringements” on Sudanese territory “and their muddying of the neighbourly, brotherly relations between the two countries in a blatant way will not deflect us from our view of the future and our strategic relations with the people of South Sudan”.

“… We look with wisdom and foresight to well-established relations between us and the people of South Sudan,” said Bashir, speaking in an uncharacteristically mild manner, at a conference to discuss a five-year national strategic plan.  Read more..

Thousands of South Sudanese stranded for months in a camp in Sudan are to be airlifted home, an aid group says.

At least 12,000 refugees were stuck in the river town of Kosti, in White Nile State, when boat traffic south was cut because of cross-border violence.

They will now be taken by bus to Khartoum and then flown to Juba, South Sudan’s capital, the International Organisation for Migration said.

The IOM says Sudan has dropped a demand that they leave by 20 May.

Meanwhile, a UN deadline for both South Sudan and Sudan to cease all hostilities or face sanctions expired yesterday. The sporadic unrest has sparked fears of all-out war between the countries.

The IOM said the airlift of the South Sudanese refugees had been made possible after the Sudanese government agreed to help.

It said Khartoum had promised to provide emergency travel documents and arrange for the transport of excess baggage which cannot be accommodated on the charter flights on which the South Sudanese will be flown south.  Read more…

Sudan has promised to cease hostilities with South Sudan and comply with a UN Security Council resolution.

However the foreign ministry also said that Khartoum reserved the right to respond to “aggression” from the South.

The statement came hours after Juba alleged fresh bombing by the Khartoum government’s forces.

A UN resolution on Wednesday backed an African Union plan demanding both sides cease hostilities, amid fears of an all-out war between the neighbours.

The Security Council called for a written commitment by both governments within 48 hours, and threatened sanctions if its terms were not met.

The South has already said it accepts the terms of the roadmap.

The BBC’s James Copnall in Khartoum says that both sides appear to have been brought back to the negotiating table, but tension is still high.

In a statement, a foreign ministry spokesman said Sudan would “fully commit to what has been issued in the resolution about stopping hostilities with South Sudan according to the time limits issued”.  Read more…

Panakuac — Fresh fighting has broken out on Sunday at the frontline between the armies of Sudan and South Sudan. Just when an RNW correspondent visited South Sudanese troops at their positions at Panakuac, Sudanese helicopter gunships attacked.

The men are in a jolly mood. James Gatduel Gatluak, commander of South Sudan’s fourth division, prepares himself to give an interview to four foreign journalists when dozens of troops suddenly run to take positions. ‘Mig,’ they shout, referring to the military airplane used by the Sudanese Armed Forces. Men run for their weapons. We scramble together in a trench in the ground, as hell breaks loose.

We don’t see the helicopter gunships, but from its position just above the tree it starts firing indiscriminately in our direction. SPLA soldiers run to large machine-guns mounted on pick-up trucks and return fire. Then mortar fire starts in both directions, though in the chaos it proves hard to distinguish between incoming and outgoing fire. Shots and explosions sound from every direction as the Sudanese army and the SPLA are only three kilometers apart. After ten minutes we use a lull in fighting to run to our car and speed off, as an incoming mortar explodes just 50 meters from the roadside.  Read more…

South Sudan has told the United Nations it will pull all police out of a disputed region bordering Sudan and is committed to halting all fighting with its northern neighbour, but Khartoum declared a state of emergency in some border areas.
The conflicting developments on Sunday raised questions whether United Nations appeals for an end to more than three weeks of border clashes between Sudan and South Sudan would bear fruit and avert full-blown war in an oil-producing region.
South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan nine months ago under a 2005 settlement, informed the United Nations that it planned to withdraw all police from the Abyei region, according to a letter from Juba’s mission to the world body.
The letter, dated April 28 and seen by Reuters on Sunday, also said South Sudan was committed to an “immediate cessation of all hostilities” – after the African Union ordered both parties to stop fighting.
The decision to withdraw from Abyei was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir on Saturday.  Read more…

BBC

Officials in South Sudan say China has agreed to loan it $8bn (£4.9bn) for major development projects.

A government spokesman said funds would be used to build roads, bridges and telecom networks, and to develop agriculture and hydro-electric power.

However, there was no mention of plans to build a new pipeline to export oil from the newly independent state.

News of the deal emerged after South Sudan’s president returned from his first official trip to China.

His visit came amid a flare-up in the dispute between the two Sudans over the oil-rich Heglig border region.

China imports the bulk of oil output from the two countries.

It wants to maintain good relations both with Sudan – a long-time ally – and with the South, which acquired the lion’s share of the region’s oil production when it seceded in July 2011 after decades of conflict.

Since then, South Sudan’s relations with Sudan have been tense – primarily over the division of oil reserves and the full definition of borders.  Read more…

Salva Kiir, South Sudan’s president, has denied that his armed forces damaged the contested Heglig oilfield they seized for 10 days earlier this month because it belongs to South Sudan.

“Panthou and the oil on top of it is ours … it is impossible that we would damage or destroy [the facilities],” Kiir, using South Sudan’s name for the Heglig oilfield, told tens of thousands of supporters on Friday after his return from China.

Both South Sudan, which seceded from Sudan and became independent last July, and Sudan claim the Heglig oilfield. South Sudan said its forces withdrew from the area last Friday after coming under intense diplomatic pressure to pull back.

“One day, if there is law in this world, Panthou will come back to us by law … That’s why this talk about us damaging [the oilfield] is a lie,” he said,

Satellite images have shown serious damage to some of the infrastructure. Each side has accused the other of damaging the facilities, part of a war of words that has accompanied local fighting along the 1,800 km (1,100 mile) contested border in what was once Africa’s largest country.  Read more…

JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan, embroiled in border fighting with its northern neighbour Sudan for the past month, said on Friday that Sudanese-backed rebel militia had attacked a town in the South’s oil-producing Upper Nile state, broadening the conflict.

“A militia that is supported by the Sudanese Armed Forces attacked a place…near Malakal and the SPLA (South Sudanese army) has repulsed them,” said SPLA spokesman Philip Aguer.

“There are no details on casualties, they are still being pursued,” he said.

Sudan’s army spokesman, al-Sawarmi Khalid, could not immediately be reached on his mobile phone. Khartoum denies supporting any rebels in South Sudan.

Khartoum and Juba accuse each other of supporting rebel militias to destabilise their opponents, and each denies the other’s charges. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July after five decades of intermittent civil war.

Malakal is the administrative centre of Upper Nile, a volatile area bordering Sudan and Ethiopia. It is also a base for many U.N. agencies and international aid groups.

Fighting along the 1,800 km (1,100 mile) contested border in what was once Africa’s largest country erupted in late March after Sudan and South Sudan failed to resolve a number of contentious issues including oil export fees and citizenship.  Read more…

By Michelle Nichols and Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday circulated to the U.N. Security Council a draft resolution that warns Sudan and South Sudan of sanctions if they do not comply with African Union demands to swiftly stop border clashes and resolve their many disputes.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told reporters the Security Council would begin discussing the draft resolution on Thursday and that it would likely need at least a few days of talks among members before going to a vote.

The AU’s Peace and Security Council on Tuesday urged both sides to cease hostilities within 48 hours and to withdraw troops from disputed areas, and warned it would issue its own binding rulings if they fail to strike deals on a string of disputes within three months.

The draft resolution, obtained by Reuters, reaffirms those demands and warns Khartoum and Juba of “its determination, in the event that one or both of the parties have not complied, to take appropriate additional measures under Article 41 of the (U.N.) Charter.”

Chapter 7 Article 41 of the U.N. Charter allows the council to impose sanctions to enforce compliance with its decisions.

“The intention of the text was to provide swift and substantive support to the decisions of the African Union in the form that the African Union requested,” Rice, president of the 15-nation Security Council for April, told reporters.  Read more…

The African Union (AU) is calling on Sudan and South Sudan to abide by a plan that will see both parties pull forces out of a disputed border area.

A senior AU official called for hostilities to cease in areas bordering lucrative oil fields.

The United Nations Security Council has also called for an end to aerial bombardments by Sudanese forces.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has said that Sudan has “declared war” on his country.

Recent clashes between Sudan and newly independent South Sudan over the Heglig oil field and nearby towns have raised fears of a return to war.

Meanwhile, South Sudan’s government says 17 prisoners of war from Sudan will be released on Wednesday in response to diplomatic efforts by Egypt.

‘Outside help’
Outlining details of a proposed peace deal, AU official Ramtane Lamamra said the African Union would take “appropriate measures” if either country failed to implement the proposed plan.

He said the AU wanted both parties “formally conveying their commitment” to peace within 48 hours.

And he said both Sudanese and South Sudanese forces should pull out of the disputed area of Abyei, near Heglig, within two weeks.  Read more…

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has arrived in the southern oilfield town of Heglig, which was recently occupied by South Sudanese troops amid fears of all-out war between the countries.

President Omar al-Bashir has claimed victory over Heglig

South Sudan’s army defeated Sudanese forces near Heglig and took control of the town two weeks ago.

Last week, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir said he had ordered his troops to withdraw from the area.

Mr Bashir has said South Sudan’s forces were driven out by his army.

“No negotiation with those people,” the AFP news agency quoted Mr Bashir as saying of the South Sudanese authorities on his arrival in Heglig.

“Our talks with them were with guns and bullets,” he told soldiers.

The past few months have seen sporadic fighting in the oil-rich areas along the two countries’ undemarcated border, prompting fears the violence could escalate into a full-blown war.

‘Provocation’
On Monday, Sudanese warplanes dropped bombs near the South Sudanese border town of Bentiu, killing at least one person, according to witnesses.

The witnesses described seeing a huge plume of smoke rising from a market and the body of a dead boy.  Read more…

By Hereward Holland

BENTIU, South Sudan (Reuters) – South Sudan accused its neighbour Sudan of bombing its troops as they pulled out of the disputed oil region of Heglig on Saturday, dampening already faint hopes of any imminent settlement between the bitter foes.

People wave Sudanese flags as they ride a military vehicle along with soldiers, during a celebration march outside the Defence Ministry in Khartoum April 20,

The newly-independent South seized Heglig last week, raising fears of an all-out war with Sudan, then announced it had started withdrawing on Friday, following sharp criticism from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“The Sudan armed forced bombed our positions last … and this morning with Antonovs,” South Sudan’s army spokesman Philip Aguer told Reuters.

“Last night we were in full control of Heglig and now we have almost completed our orderly withdrawal,” he added.

There was no immediate response from Sudan’s army which said on Friday it had “liberated” Heglig by force.

Tensions have been rising since South Sudan split away from Sudan as an independent country in July, under the terms of a 2005 deal, taking with it most of the country’s known oil reserves.

The countries are still at loggerheads over the position of their shared border and other disputes have already halted nearly all the oil production that underpins both economies.  Read more…

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has ordered the withdrawal of his troops from the Heglig oil field across the border in Sudan.

South Sudanese forces captured the oil field last week, accusing Khartoum of using it as a base to launch attacks.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said the occupation is illegal and also called on Sudan to stop bombing the South.

The escalating fighting and rhetoric between the two sides over the last week has led to fears of all-out war.

South Sudan seceded last July following a 2005 peace deal which ended a brutal two-decade civil war in which more than 1.5 million people died.

On Thursday, South Sudan issued a statement saying it was not interested in war with its northern neighbour and that it would only withdraw from Heglig if the UN deployed monitors there.

A day earlier, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had threatened to bring down the government in Juba following the loss of Heglig, which provided more than half of Sudan’s oil.

Reuters news agency says the withdrawal was ordered to create the environment for talks with Khartoum.

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir has said his main goal is now to “liberate” the people of South Sudan from its rulers following recent border clashes.

The former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement has ruled South Sudan since it seceded from Sudan in July 2011.

President Bashir was addressing a rally at his party’s headquarters.

Fighting between the two countries has now spread to another area, further adding to fears of all-out war.

South Sudan seized the Heglig oil field – generally recognised as Sudanese territory – eight days ago. On Tuesday fighting broke out north of Aweil in South Sudan, about 100 miles (160km) west of Heglig.

The South Sudanese military said 22 soldiers had been killed, with casualties on both sides.
Main disputes between the two Sudans

Transit fees the South should pay Sudan to use its oil pipelines
Demarcating the border
Both sides claim Abyei
The rights of each other’s citizens now in a foreign country – there are estimated to be 500,000 southerners in Sudan and 80,000 Sudanese in the South
Each accuses the other of supporting rebel groups on its territory
Mr Bashir told the rally “the story began in Heglig, but it will end in Khartoum or Juba,” according to the AFP news agency.

‘By hook or crook’

The current spate of fighting is the worst since South Sudan’s independence last year, which followed two decades of civil war between Mr Bashir’s government and the SPLM.  Read more…

By Alexander Dziadosz and Khalid Abdelaziz

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan and South Sudan accused each other of launching attacks on a new front near their contested border, stoking fears of a return to all-out war in the oil-producing region.

The reports of the fresh fighting south of the Sudanese town of Mairem late on Tuesday came as the U.N. Security Council discussed imposing sanctions on the African neighbours if they did not stop the escalating border clashes.

There has been growing alarm over the worst violence seen since South Sudan split away from Sudan as an independent country in July under the terms of a 2005 peace settlement.

South Sudan seized the contested oil-producing Heglig region last week, prompting Sudan’s parliament to brand its former civil war foe an “enemy” on Monday and to call for a swift recapture of the flat savanna region.

Both countries are highly dependent on oil. Any protracted fighting would severely damage their economies and disrupt the surrounding region.

Distrust runs deep between the neighbours, who are at loggerheads over the position of their border, how much the landlocked South should pay to transport its oil through Sudan and the division of national debt, among other issues.  Read more…

President Mwai Kibaki has called on East African Community (EAC) members to jointly find ways of diplomatically addressing the unfolding events on the Sudan and South Sudan border because the two nations must not return to war so soon after a peaceful separation.

President Kibaki at the same time called on the presidents of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir and Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan to work closely to resolve the emerging disputes to avoid reversing gains realised after the successful implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
The president made the remarks on Tuesday while addressing a special sitting of the East African Legislative Assembly at Parliament buildings.
On the Somali conflict, the Head of State noted that Somalia was presently going through a defining moment and that the country had a great opportunity to move ahead after 20 years of internal strife.
He asserted that the EAC had a responsibility to the people of Somalia by ensuring the country enjoyed stability.
During the occasion, he appreciated Uganda, Burundi and Kenya for their contribution towards peace and stability in Somalia and the sacrifices made by the armed forces from the three countries particularly putting their lives on risk for sake of the region’s peace.
The president called on the region to continue extending support to the African Union’s initiative to stabilize Somalia.  Read more…