Sudan urges Juba to cease backing rebels before stopping oil flow

July 17, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has called upon the government of South Sudan to speed up the implementation of the cooperation agreement between the two countries before stoppage of the flow of the southern oil through Sudan’s territory.

The call comes as the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) continued Tuesday to email reports to the newspapers in Khartoum about the arrival of rebels from South Kordofan to Juba before to move to Kampala to attend a leadership meeting there, saying the SPLA intelligence service is tasked with the operation.

NCP secretary of organization, Hamid Sideeg, on Tuesday demanded the government of South Sudan to accelerate the implementation of the cooperation agreement within the remaining period of the 60-day time limit given by the Sudanese government to halt flow of southern oil through Sudan’s territory.

In September 2012, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of agreements labelled Cooperation Agreement, which covered several outstanding issues including oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others.

Last March, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for these cooperation agreements.

But lat moth the Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir ordered the closure of all pipelines carrying oil from South Sudan within 60-day period from the date of 9 June 2013 saying Juba keep providing harbour and support to the rebel groups fighting the Sudanese army in Blue Nile South Kordofan and Darfur.

Sideeg defended the decision to stop southern oil flow through Sudan’s territory, saying that it is a wise and just decision which aims at protecting Sudan’s interests.

He added that if the government of South Sudan is genuinely seeking to achieve its interests, it must implement what has been agreed upon, pointing that it has sufficient time to do so.

Last Friday South Sudanese officials in a meeting chaired by vice-president Riek Machar discussed a new letter from the Sudanese government received on 7 July reminding Juba that Khartoum still waiting concrete steps on this issue of rebel groups.

(ST)