Khartoum warns of reaction to any aggression by South Sudan

February 7, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government has vowed to respond in kind if South Sudan initiates any hostile action, in the latest escalation of rhetoric between the two countries as they prepare to embark on a fresh round of talks.

Sudan and South Sudan appear to be on the brink of renewed conflict as their already-tense relations reached its nadir in recent weeks due to a bitter dispute over oil.

“The climate now is closer to a climate of war than one of peace,” Sudan’s president Omer Bashir said in an interview this week after his government’s decision to confiscate southern oil pumped through Sudan’s territories prompted the government in Juba to halt oil production all together.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir responded on Monday by launching a barrage of criticism against Al-Bashir, saying that Juba is ready for war if Khartoum attempts to attack.

Kiir also accused Khartoum of amassing its troops along the contested borders with his country in preparation for an invasion.

Reacting to Kiir’s tough statements, the official spokesman of Sudan’s foreign ministry, Al-Obaid Marawih, on Tuesday said that Khartoum was closely studying the implications of Kiir’s speech.

“If we become certain beyond any doubt that the South is preparing to fight Sudan, our duty requires us to confront any hostile action,” he told reporters in Khartoum.

However, he emphasized Sudan’s commitment to good neighborly relations with the south, pointing out that Khartoum is still keen to reach fair settlement to the issues of contention between the two countries during their next round of negotiations scheduled to take place in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on 10 February.

Previous round of talks held in Addis Ababa under the meditation of the African Union High Level Panel (AUHIP) failed to break the dispute as the gap remained wide between the oil transit fees demanded by Khartoum, $32 per barrel, and the 74 cent South Sudan says it is prepared to pay.

Meanwhile, the special envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Sudan Haile Menkerios held talks on Tuesday with the Sudanese minister of foreign affairs Ali Karti in Khartoum.

Marawih told reporters that the meeting discussed arrangements for the next round of talks.

The spokesman further revealed that his boss Karti informed the UN envoy that Khartoum would not hesitate to adopt a decisive position against Juba if the latter acts in defiance of good relations.

There is little optimism that the two sides will manage to resolve the oil dispute during the upcoming round of negotiations.

Direct talks between Al-Bashir and Kiir on the margins of the IGAD summit in Addis Ababa in late January collapsed despite efforts by regional leaders to bring the pair to sign an AUHIP proposal to end the oil crisis.

(ST)