Sudan accuses rebels of attacking Abyei oil pipeline but JEM denies
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June 13, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday
accused the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) of attacking an oil
pipeline in Abyei with the support of South Sudan, but the rebel group
denied any link with the sabotage.
JPEG - 39.3 kb
A Sudanese worker inspects burnt out oil pipes in Heglig on April 24, 2012. (AP)
In a statement released on Thursday, SAF spokesperson, Al Sawarmi
Khaled, said that JEM rebels on Wednesday at 09.00 pm attacked the
pipeline in Ajaja area in northern Abyei, which is under the
protection of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei
(UNISFA).
He asserted that the attackers penetrated the area from the South
Sudanese Unity state.
But JEM spokesperson Gibreel Adam Bilal said in a statement extended
to Sudan Tribune that their group did not blow up the pipeline
connecting Difra oil field with a processing plant in Heglig.
He said they do not receive any support from the South Sudanese army,
SPLA, and stressed they also have no presence in Abyei area which is
claimed by Sudan and South Sudan.
Al-Sawarmi said the UNISFA soldiers are pursuing the rebel fighters.
However the UNISFA has not issued a communiqué on the incident.
Sudan deployed some 126 soldiers in Difra and refuse to withdraw them
in line with an agreement reached with the South Sudan in June 2011
providing to pull out troops and to deploy an international force
there. Khartoum argues that rebel groups are present in the area.
Oil minister Awad Al-Jaz, on the other hand, minimised the incident
saying the damaged pipeline is a secondary one transporting the oil of
Difra to the oil processing plant in Heglig.
The minister added that the fire now extinguished and the situation is
under full control as the technical teams are now restarting the
pipeline.
Al-Sawarmi pointed out the rebels had engineering equipment that
enabled them to blow up the pipeline, stressing this gear was provided
by the South Sudanese government.
"Abyei Now" a website managed by Ngok Dinka activists said the attack
had been carried out by a group of gunmen belonging to the Misseriya
ethnic group to protest the lack of development in the region.
An anonymous source claimed the responsibility of the attack and
accused some tribal figures linked to the regime of confiscating the
2% of Abyei oil income dedicated to develop the area.
He also denied any link the Sudan Revolutionary Front rebels.
Al-Sawarmi stressed that the rebels had attempted several times in the
past to attain the pipeline but the UNISFA prevented them.
Difra oil field which is the only one placed in Abyei by the Permanent
Arbitration Tribunal in July 2009, produces a small amount of oil
estimated at 4,000 barrel per day.
On 9 June Sudan decided to stop the flow of the South Sudanese oil
through the pipeline and accused Juba of violating the cooperation
agreement of 27 September 2012, saying it continues to support rebel
groups.
South Sudan denies the accusation and accuses Khartoum in return of
supporting rebel groups in Jonglei and other areas.
(ST)
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