Sudan's parliament to cease negotiations with South
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E-mail Xinhua, April 11, 2012
The Sudanese parliament decided on Wednesday to announce a general mobilization and stop negotiations with South Sudan following a large-scale attack by the South Sudanese army on a strategic region of Higlieg on the borders between the two countries.
During a joint meeting with the Council of Governors, the parliament decided an immediate withdrawal of the Sudanese negotiation team, which is currently holding talks with its South Sudanese counterpart under mediations of the African Union in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
The parliament said in a statement that the measures were taken in order "to confront the current security situation."
In his response to inquires by parliament speaker Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir, Sudanese Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein stressed the ability of the Sudanese Armed forces (SAF) to control the situation and maintain the stability of the country, the state- run SUNA news agency reported.
The SAF announced Tuesday that troops of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) carried a large-scale assault on the Higlieg oil field in the South Kordofan State neighboring South Sudan.
Higlieg is the largest oil field in Sudan, which produces roughly half of the country's 115,000 barrel-a-day output.
"The malicious forces belonging to South Sudan violated our southern border towards the city of Higlieg, and these forces consisting of SPLA elements and mercenaries from inside the State of South Sudan have moved (into Sudan's territories), led by hatred and ill will and a desire rooted in the continuing war," said the SAF in a statement.
"We promise our people a new victory on remnants of treachery and betrayal in the battle, in which all the enemies of the country will pay their prices," the statement added.
In another statement issued on Tuesday night, the Sudanese government condemned the "blatant aggressive behavior" of the South Sudanese troops and announced that it retained the right to repeal the aggression and use all the legitimate means to defend the integrity of its territory.
The two countries are at odds over how much the landlocked South should pay to export its oil through Sudan.
South Sudan took three quarters of what was the united country' s oil output when it seceded in July 2011. It shut down production in January after Khartoum confiscated some of its oil for what it alleged unpaid transit fees.
Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was meant to meet his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir in Juba last week to defuse tensions, but he called off the summit following the border clashes.
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