Khartoum-Juba security meeting will likely be postponed: sources
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July 21, 2013, (KHARTOUM) - The joint security meeting between
Khartoum and Juba scheduled for Monday in Addis Ababa will likely be
postponed, multiple sources told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.
JPEG - 38.3 kb
FILE PHOTO - Pagan Amum (left), chief negotiator from South Sudan,
lead mediator for the African Union, Thabo Mbeki (centre) and Sudan’s
chief negotiator Idriss Abdu Qadir
The sources said that the Sudanese delegation has not left for
Ethiopia yet and noted the lack of clarity in the agenda of the
meeting. They also disclosed that several action items for the meeting
has not been completed.
The meeting was to discuss accusations of rebel support by both
nations, as well as monitoring the borders between the two countries.
Farouk Mohamed, a member of the Joint Political and Security Committee
(JPSC), said that Sudan has submitted its complaints and observations
to the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) chaired
by Thabo Mbeki.
He further said that they are waiting for Mbeki’s report on the
obstacles facing the implementation of the joint cooperation
agreements particularly with regard to the issue of supporting and
harboring rebel movements and determination of the centre line in the
demilitarized zone.
In a related development, the pro-Sudanese government Ashorooq TV
quoted a source in Juba as saying that China will make a new push to
mediate between the two Sudans.
Rahmatullah Osman, undersecretary in Sudan’s foreign ministry, told
al-Akhbar newspaper this week that Khartoum would not allow any
passage of South Sudanese oil unless Juba cut all ties with
insurgents.
"There won’t be any reversal," he said, adding that Sudan hoped like
South Sudan that China would mediate.
China dominates the oil industries in both countries, and state firm
China National Petroleum Corp is most affected as it runs the
oilfields in the South with Malaysia’s Petronas and Indian firm ONGC
Videsh.
South Sudan on Friday announced that it had reduced its oil output to
avoid any negative affects an abrupt shutdown would have on the
environment should Khartoum decide to halt the young nation’s oil
export.
A reduction could see the country’s oil production drop to just
100,000 barrel per day, from the 200,000 it used to produce when it
resumed production in April following last year’s shut down.
Last June the Sudanese government announced that it will close
pipelines carrying oil from landlocked South Sudan within 60 days and
insisted output be stopped by 7 August unless Juba ceases to giving
support to a coalition of anti-Khartoum rebels, known as the Sudan
Revolutionary Front (SRF).
South Sudan also accuses Sudan of backing rebels in its eastern Jonglei state.
On Sunday the deputy spokesperson of Sudan’s National Congress Party
(NCP), Qubais Ahmed al-Mustafa, warned that they are determined to
proceed with the shutdown unless South Sudan adheres to the accords
signed.
"A responsible government should not focus on internal issues and
neglect the global agreements signed with other countries. South Sudan
government must adhere to the signed agreement," al-Mustafa said.
He stressed that the aspirations and dreams of people in Sudan and
South Sudan makes it imperative for Juba to implement agreements and
refrain from aiding rebels.
In September 2012, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of deals
in a Cooperation Agreement, which covered several outstanding issues
including oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking and border
trade, among others.
Last March, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for
these agreements.
The most notable provision in the agreement is related to resumption
of oil exports by landlocked South Sudan which were suspended more
than a year ago because of a dispute over transit fees. Oil started
flowing again in April.
(ST)
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