Sudan agrees to China-AU plea for postponement of oil shutdown deadline
July 25, 2013, (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government formally agreed to a request made by Chinese and African Union (AU) officials to postpone for at least two weeks the deadline by which it will shut down the pipelines carrying oil from landlocked South Sudan.
A senior diplomat in Khartoum told Sudan Tribune that the government is expected to move forward with the initiative and noted that China sees itself in partnership with north and south Sudan in oil production and therefore it stepped into the row in a timely manner.
China, heavily invested in the oil sector of both nations, has found itself caught between its long-time ally in Khartoum in the north and its new partner in the South, which inherited three quarters of Sudan’s oil output after the split.
Last June, Bashir ordered the suspension South Sudanese petroleum exports through Sudan’s oil installations accusing Juba of providing shelter and support to Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) and Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N).
Juba denies the charges and in turn claims that Khartoum is rebels in Jonglei.
South Sudan only restarted oil production in April after ending pumping around 300,000 barrels per day in January 2012 when the former civil war foes failed to agree on pipeline fees.
The chair of the AU High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki met with Bashir today as well in order to redeem the faltering cooperation agreement between Khartoum and Juba.
Mbeki asked Bashir for more time so that verification committees, that will investigate rebel support claims by each side, can complete its work.
During the meeting, Bashir stressed Sudan’s keenness to establish good relations with South Sudan to achieve peace and stability through the implementation of the cooperation agreements.
Mbeki told reporters after the meeting that he discussed with Bashir the issue of the demilitarized zone between Sudan and South Sudan and Juba’s alleged support to the rebels which the AU committees ate probing.
“We came to say to the President that the committees formed by the African Union to review the matter started its work and it is our opinion that these committees are given time to do their job,” he said.
Yesterday the pro-government Sudanese Media Center (SMC) website reported that the AU asked Sudan’s foreign ministry in a letter to extend the oil shutdown deadline.
But on Thursday morning the foreign ministry spokesperson Abu Bakr al-Sideeg denied the report saying that the 60 days is the timeline determined in the agreements with Juba.
He added that there is still time for South Sudan to make a change in policy related to rebel support.
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.
Last March, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for these cooperation agreements.
(ST)