Sudan and South Sudan to 'step back from brink of war'

Sudan and South Sudan vowed to step back from the brink of all-out war The Sudanese government on Thursday said that it would not abandon the unity and safety of its land. Abdullah Ali Massar, the minister of information and government spokesperson, said:

 “Aggression in the oil-rich Heglig was premeditated, aiming to choke Sudan through disrupting the oil production in the region.”
Sudan and South Sudan had vowed Wednesday to step back from the brink of all-out war after three days of border violence including airstrikes and tank battles prompted internationalconcern of a wider conflict.
The African Union, UN Security Council and European Union have called for an end to the violence while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blamed the Sudanese government for hostilities.
The Security Council called on Khartoum and Juba to maintain restraint as renewed clashes sparked fears of a new war between the two states.
Massar declared to Arabstoday that there were "hidden hands" trying to undermine Sudan’s security, saying talks that Khartoum was delaying the border demarcation "does not make sense".
Sudanese defence minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein disclosed that the army controlled Heglig, saying: “the aggression made the government reconsider its latest agreements with South Sudan, particularly the ‘Four Freedoms’.”
Sudanese Oil Minister Awad al-Jaz visited Heglig on Wednesday morning accompanied with a number of ministers, senior officials and the governor of the restive South Kordofan.
In a meeting with oil company officials and workers, Jaz said the Sudanese government was committed to providing protection and security to them, and that the latest aggression was aimed at causing a state of fear so that they would stop working in Heglig.
The UN Security Council also voiced concern about violence flaring in the border area between Sudan and South Sudan, warning that it raised threats of a new war, and that it harmed the humanitarian situation of the inhabitants. Members of the Council called Khartoum and Juba to show the highest level of restraint. The council said both countries must halt military operations.
Sudan's permanent representative to the United Nations, ambassador Dafalla al-Haj Ali, said that the UN statement said to settle both issues peacefully. He added that the statement sent a strong message to the country's rebel movements that aimed to overthrow the government by force. He continued: “The statement demanded the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need in Blue Nile and South Kordofan.”
Ali claimed the Sudanese government has adopted "much restraint towards the South", while affirming the necessity of a peaceful reconciliation on  pending issues between the two.
He described the actions of his country's armed forces as a practical response to Souuth president Salva Kiir's declaration that Heglig belonged to South Sudan.
On allegations of shelling, he replied that Sudan had abided by all the provisions of the peace agreement made about seven years ago, and armed forces did not assault its neighbour or conduct air raids.
He added that such claims were pretexts repeatedly used by the South Sudan government  to deviate attention from their last offensive in Heglig.
For her part, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Washington was making efforts to calm tensions between the two sides. She stressed the need to carry out a meeting between the presidents of the two states to decide on the issues of the oil border areas and the citizenship to implement the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Clinton voiced serious concern on the escalation of the military confrontation between the north and the south, saying that Sudan bears the greater share of responsibility as it used heavy weapons and performed air raids, indicating its military strenght outweighed that of the South.
The White House added in a statement that both sides must avoid more fighting and achieve economic cooperation and peaceful co-existence through direct communication and negotiations on key issues related to security and border management in the South Korodfan, Blue Nile and Abyei provinces.
Fighting on the ground had reportedly ceased on both sides of the undemarcated border but dead bodies and destroyed tanks lay strewn in Sudan’s contested oil centre of Heglig, the site of bloody battles that began Monday.
Both Juba and Khartoum said senior envoys would meet in the Ethiopian capital Thursday in a bid to stave off further violence.
“What we expect to achieve is the cessation of hostilities,” South Sudan’s top negotiator Pagan Amum said. “We will stop the fighting that is there, and ensure that this does not erupt into war between the two countries.”
Sudanese foreign affairs official Rahamatalla Mohamed Osman, who had arrived in Addis Ababa ahead of the talks, said Khartoum did not want a war with the South, but warned “if they want to accelerate, we will defend ourselves.”
Sudanese warplanes on Monday launched air raids on newly independent South Sudan, while the rival armies clashed in heavy battles.
Both sides claim the other started the fighting, the worst since South Sudan declared independence from Khartoum last July after decades of civil war.
The African Union (AU) said Wednesday it was deeply concerned at an “escalating security situation” on the border between the former civil war foes, and called for troops to pull back 10 kilometres (6 miles) either side of the border.
The unrest jeopardises AU-led efforts to resolve contentious border and oil disputes that have ratcheted up tensions between Juba and Khartoum.
The last round of AU-mediated talks in Addis Ababa closed this month with an agreement on nationality and border issues, which was hailed as a major breakthrough in dragging negotiations, but the mood has soured since.
Juba said northern bombers and troops had struck first on Monday, moving into Unity State before Southern troops fought back and took the Heglig oil field, parts of which are claimed by both countries.Sudan later retook the field.
A large contingent of Misseriya nomads from the paramilitary Popular Defense Force (PDF), a key battle force for the Sudanese military, patrolled the Heglig area with rifles and motorcycles, but without uniforms.
“We will fight for this border even without the government’s permission, to protect our land,” said Ismail Hamdien, a Misseriya leader who travelled to the battle scene to assess the situation.
Rebel forces that both Juba and Khartoum accuse are backed by the other were also reported to have joined in the fighting, and AU Commission chief Jean Ping called for a “halting of any support to rebel forces.”
Oil operations in Heglig are run by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), a consortium led by China’s state oil giant CNPC.
The operator said the fighting had not affected the field’s 60,000 barrels per day output.
The Heglig field is key to the Sudanese economy because it contributes almost half of the country's output of 115,000 bpd.
Sudan lost three quarters of its output when South Sudan became independent in July last year. Both countries are locked in a row over how much the landlocked new nation should pay to export its crude through the north.
Southern soldiers were on high alert along the border fearing fresh attacks after pulling out of Heglig, said Southern army spokesman Philip Aguer.
“It is not our policy to attack and occupy, but only to defend ourselves against unwarranted aggression,” said Aguer, adding there had been no ground fighting Wednesday.
“We are monitoring the movement of large SAF (Sudan’s army) convoys near the border ... our forces are ready to respond,” he added.
More than two million people died in Sudan’s 1983-2005 civil war between Khartoum and southern rebels before a peace agreement which led to South Sudan’s independence.