Sudan accuses rebels of attacking Abyei oil pipeline but JEM denies
June 13, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday accused the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) of attacking an oil pipeline in Abyei with the support of South Sudan, but the rebel group denied any link with the sabotage.
He asserted that the attackers penetrated the area from the South Sudanese Unity state.
But JEM spokesperson Gibreel Adam Bilal said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune that their group did not blow up the pipeline connecting Difra oil field with a processing plant in Heglig.
He said they do not receive any support from the South Sudanese army, SPLA, and stressed they also have no presence in Abyei area which is claimed by Sudan and South Sudan.
Al-Sawarmi said the UNISFA soldiers are pursuing the rebel fighters. However the UNISFA has not issued a communiqué on the incident.
Sudan deployed some 126 soldiers in Difra and refuse to withdraw them in line with an agreement reached with the South Sudan in June 2011 providing to pull out troops and to deploy an international force there. Khartoum argues that rebel groups are present in the area.
Oil minister Awad Al-Jaz, on the other hand, minimised the incident saying the damaged pipeline is a secondary one transporting the oil of Difra to the oil processing plant in Heglig.
The minister added that the fire now extinguished and the situation is under full control as the technical teams are now restarting the pipeline.
Al-Sawarmi pointed out the rebels had engineering equipment that enabled them to blow up the pipeline, stressing this gear was provided by the South Sudanese government.
“Abyei Now” a website managed by Ngok Dinka activists said the attack had been carried out by a group of gunmen belonging to the Misseriya ethnic group to protest the lack of development in the region.
An anonymous source claimed the responsibility of the attack and accused some tribal figures linked to the regime of confiscating the 2% of Abyei oil income dedicated to develop the area.
He also denied any link the Sudan Revolutionary Front rebels.
Al-Sawarmi stressed that the rebels had attempted several times in the past to attain the pipeline but the UNISFA prevented them.
Difra oil field which is the only one placed in Abyei by the Permanent Arbitration Tribunal in July 2009, produces a small amount of oil estimated at 4,000 barrel per day.
On 9 June Sudan decided to stop the flow of the South Sudanese oil through the pipeline and accused Juba of violating the cooperation agreement of 27 September 2012, saying it continues to support rebel groups.
South Sudan denies the accusation and accuses Khartoum in return of supporting rebel groups in Jonglei and other areas.
(ST)
