Juba dispatches VP Machar to Sudan for talks on oil row: source
June 14, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar will travel to Khartoum for talks with Sudanese official on their decision to stop oil flow through their pipelines, a government source said today.
Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir ordered the oil minister to begin shutting down the pipelines carrying the crude from landlocked South Sudan.
Bashir said the decision was in response to Juba’s continued support to rebels battling Khartoum.
The move was seen as a major setback to the agreements signed last year between the two ex-foes.
In September of last year, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others.
However only last March, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for these deals which was hailed as a major breakthrough in the mostly tense relations between the two ex-foes.
The most notable provision in the agreement is related to resumption of oil exports by landlocked South Sudan which were suspended more than a year ago because of a dispute over transit fees. Oil started flowing again in April.
(ST)