---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 8:53 AM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] South Sudan Accuses Sudan of Bombing Oil Facilities To: Group <[email protected]>
1. S. Sudan says Khartoum bombed two oil wells Thu Mar 1, 2012 11:31am GMT By Hereward Holland JUBA, March 1 (Reuters) - South Sudan accused Khartoum on Thursday of bombing two oil wells in the north of the new nation and moving troops and weaponry close to an army base near the poorly defined border. A Sudanese official denied the allegations. Relations between Sudan and the South have deteriorated in recent months as talks about border disputes and oil transportation fees have floundered, causing the South to shut down oil production. Each side has repeatedly blamed the other for flare-ups around the border region. South Sudan's government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said two MiG aircraft dropped six bombs on oil fields in Unity State on Wednesday, violating a non-aggression pact signed by the two countries last month. "We will launch a very strong protest to the (United Nations) Security Council and we condemn this warlike attitude on the part of Sudan," Benjamin told reporters. He said there were no casualties in the attack roughly 74 km (46 miles) from the border that destroyed two well-heads and flow lines as well as two cars. The Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, a Chinese/ Malaysian/Indian-owned consortium, runs the oil fields that South Sudan said were hit. In Khartoum, Sudan's military spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid said Sudanese forces had not been involved in any bombing inside the south. South Sudan has accused the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) of bombing several areas of its territory since it gained independence in July last year, including two refugee camps. "They would like to drag the republic of South Sudan into war, a war we are not interested in," Benjamin said. South Sudan voted overwhelmingly to secede last year, the culmination of a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war. At partition, three-quarters of Sudan's known oil reserves fell in South Sudan's territory but the two did not agree on how much the Juba should pay to use oil export and processing facilities in Sudan. South Sudan's army spokesman Philip Aguer said Sudanese forces were assembling near a base in an area close to the disputed border in Unity State. "Yesterday evening SAF have been moving forces, heavy machine guns and vehicles to within 500 metres of an (army) base in Peshwien, very close to the border which we are waiting to be demarcated," he said. Sawarmi dismissed the report. Sudan regularly accuses Juba of offering support to the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), an umbrella group for militias seeking to unseat the government in Khartoum. (Additional reporting by Khaled Abdel Aziz in Khartoum; Editing by Edmund Blair and Robert Woodward) http://af.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFL5E8E12F120120301?sp=true END1 2. South Sudan Accuses Sudan of Bombing Oil Pipeline in Raid By Jared Ferrie and Salma El Wardany March 1 (Bloomberg) -- South Sudan's military said an oil pipeline was damaged in a bombing raid carried out by two Sudanese Air Force MiG jets in Unity state on the border between the two countries. Sudan denied any involvement. The attack occurred about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Bentiu, the capital of Unity state, Colonel Philip Aguer, spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Army, said today by phone from Juba, the capital of South Sudan. The town's water supply was contaminated with oil in the attack, he said. It wasn't immediately clear whether there were any casualties. "We have nothing to do with this bombing," Sudanese army spokesman al-Sawarami Khaled said in a phone interview today from Khartoum, the capital. "We don't have any interest in attacking land belonging to South Sudan and bombing oil wells is not in our interests any way." Fighting last weekend between Sudanese forces and rebels in the Sudanese state of Southern Kordofan, which borders Unity state, prompted Sudan to lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council. Sudan claimed that South Sudanese soldiers took part in the operations. Sudan ``reserves the right according to international law to react to this attack,'' the government said in a statement posted by the state-run Sudan Media Centre on Feb. 28. Support Denied South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin yesterday denied the accusations and said his government wasn't giving any ``military or political support'' to the rebels. Aguer said MiG fighter aircraft have flown over Jaw recently, though no bombs had been dropped until yesterday. Equipment at wells 5 and 8 were damaged in the raid, resulting in an oil spill in the area, Benjamin told reporters today in Juba. Two vehicles owned by engineers carrying out maintenance work at the time of the bombings were damaged, he said. The engineers were unharmed. "The Republic of South Sudan is making urgent arrangements to put this violation of our airspace at an end," he said. Aguer said the Sudanese army also moved ``vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns'' about 500 metres from southern army positions in the border area of Jaw. ``We are trying to analyze if they are preparing for a ground attack,'' he said. Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co., which operates wells and a pipeline that runs from Unity state through Sudan, has been notified of the incident and power links to the wells have been switched off, Benjamin said. Calls to the offices of the Khartoum-based company weren't answered when Bloomberg sought comment. END2 3. US ambassador to South Sudan reaches Unity state in countrywide tour By Bonifacio Taban Kuich February 29, 2012 (BENTIU) - United States (US) ambassador to South Sudan, Susan Page met with Unity state governor, Taban Deng Gai on Wednesday to discuss the situation in the state. “I’m trying to get around all the ten states to visit and make a tour to see what our own projects are doing and how the government at the local level is working with the people in trying to achieve the aspiration of the people of South Sudan,” said Page. Unity state has been facing challenges in terms of development, and an influx of refugees from war torn South Kordofan, which Page acknowledged. Page said, they will work with the various United Nations (UN) agencies and the Government of South Sudan at both the state and national levels, to try to assist the refugees, especially the most vulnerable. “We would like for them to move to safer places, safer locations that are away from areas of fighting so these are some areas we are working on,” she added. The UN estimates 26,400 refugees from South Kordofan have moved to Unity since the conflict began in September 2011. The UN condemned Khartoum’s bombing of the Yida refugee camp in Unity in November 2011. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/US-ambassador-to-South-Sudan,41753 END3 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 82 050 1235 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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