Bashir-Kiir talks on oil collapse despite African pressure
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January 27, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) – The presidents of Sudan Omer Hassan
al-Bashir and South Sudan Salva Kiir failed to reach an agreement on
the terms by which Juba can export its oil through the north’s
pipelines despite pressure mounted by African leaders present at the
summit in Addis Ababa.
JPEG - 32.3 kb
Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir (L) & South Sudan president
Salva Kiir (R) attend talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa
January 27, 2012 (AFP)
The Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who is the current chair of
the African Union (AU) spent several hours of the day in Sheraton
hotel desperately trying to convince Bashir and Kiir to reach common
grounds on the issue of oil.
The landlocked South Sudan became independent last July under a 2005
peace deal that ended decades of civil war with Khartoum. It took with
it about 75 percent of roughly 500,000 barrels per day of oil
production.
Both countries depend heavily on oil and have put forward widely
differing figures for a possible transit fee. Sudan has publicly
proposed $36 per barrel, while South Sudan has listed figures under $1
per barrel.
As talks on the fees dragged on the Sudanese government said it ran
out of patience and can no longer tolerate South Sudan exporting its
oil for free. As such it started taking part of the oil pumped by
South Sudan to make up for what it called unpaid fees.
In response, South Sudan said last week it was shutting down its output.
Zenawi along with Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki and chairman of the AU
High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki listened to the
respective positions of Bashir and Kiir on the oil dispute after which
it was realized that the gap between the two sides is very wide.
But the Ethiopian premier told the two leaders that while he respects
their views but that they have no options left but to sign off on the
AUHIP proposal and suggested that the mediation team ran out of ideas.
The latest proposal submitted by Mbeki’s team states that South Sudan
would pay its northern neighbor $4 billion over the next five years,
send 35,000 barrels per day to Khartoum’s refineries and in return the
Sudanese government would release the oil tankers in Port Sudan
carrying crude to their buyers.
The south countered the initiative saying it is prepared to pay only
$2.6 billion over the next five years including $1 billion starting
this year.
Some sources told Sudan Tribune that the AUHIP proposal was watered
down in Addis Ababa today to where it allows Juba to export its oil
without Khartoum seizing part of it. South Sudan would then provide
Sudan with the 35,000 bpd.
The two sides would then work on the transit fee portion of the
dispute and seek an agreement within three months timeframe.
After several hours of frantic deliberations Bashir and Kiir agreed to
sign an accord on spot after consulting with their delegations
prompting Zenawi to break the news to his African peers.
But Kiir reportedly came back and said he can’t approve of this
arrangement in its present form.
The head of South Sudan negotiating team Pagan Amum vehemently denied
that Kiir gave Zenawi his blessings saying that this a “lie”. He
stressed that his boss never agreed and came to the summit to inform
the leaders about his position and that for a starter Khartoum must
return the oil it seized.
Sudan’s foreign minister Ali Karti said that Kiir’s stance generated
harsh criticism from African leaders.
Zenawi said the two sides hadn’t agreed on a deal yet, but oil would
stay on the agenda in Addis Ababa, where the leaders of Somalia, Kenya
and Ethiopia also met.
"It was agreed that the two parties will continue their negotiations
during the summit. We have not come to conclusion as yet," he told
reporters.
Zenawi said an African Union mediating panel had proposed a "reversal
of unilateral measures" taken by both sides, but did not spell out
what that meant. "Many of those issues are agreed, but there are some
sticking points," he said.
In a related issue the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper
reported that Bashir refused the presence of Ugandan president Yoweri
Musevini in the oil talks.
(ST)
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