Juba says Khartoum wants to buy 4,500 barrels of oil for Kosti power plant
Article
Comments (12)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
facebook
myspace
twitter
buzzyahoo
July 6, 2013 (JUBA) - South Sudan’s cabinet has approved the outcome
of the recent mission of the country’s Vice President, Riek Machar, to
Khartoum to mend the souring relations between the two neighbouring
countries, saying the mission was very successful and revealed that
Sudan requested an an oil purchase for power generation purposes.
JPEG - 40.3 kb
Sudan’s Vice President Ali Osman Taha (L) greets his South Sudanese
counterpart Riek Machar upon the latter’s arrival at Khartoum ariport
on June 30, 2013. (Getty)
On Sunday 30 June, Machar led a high level delegation consisting of
five ministers and chairperson of an independent commission to engage
his Sudanese counter-part, first vice-president Ali Osman Taha, over
the recent threats by President Al-Bashir giving an ultimatum of 60
days to close the oil pipeline carrying South Sudan’s oil through his
country’s territory and sea port to the international markets.
Bashir said he made the decision accusing the South Sudanese ruling
party of supporting and harbouring its former comrades, the SPLA-N,
who fight Khartoum in the two areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
In Khartoum, Machar met with president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir with who
he discussed the claims of the support to rebels in the two countries.
Following the recent talks, Khartoum backed down from its threats of
oil shut down and suspension of the cooperation agreements, and the
two parties recommitted themselves to the full implementation of the
cooperation agreements.
Barnaba Marial Benjamin, South Sudan’s minister of information and
official spokesman, told the press on Friday that the cabinet had
endorsed the report presented by the vice-president, Machar, putting
the two countries back on the right track of peaceful dialogue rather
than threats.
Marial said the oil will now continue to flow uninterrupted and that
Khartoum also has requested to further buy 4,500 barrels per day from
the South Sudan’s crude oil passing through the pipeline in order to
operate its power station in Kosti.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has already been signed in
Khartoum between the two petroleum ministers, he said, adding that the
details for the terms of the agreement will be worked out by the two
ministers soon in Juba.
However, Khartoum is still insisting that South Sudan has been openly
supporting the rebels of SPLA-N or under the umbrella of the Sudan
Revolutionary Front (SRF) including those of Darfur to topple the
regime in Khartoum.
Juba has been denying the allegations and counter-accused Khartoum of
supporting its rebels including David Yau Yau who is battling South
Sudan army in Jonglei state.
This week Khartoum bombed a border area – Jau - of Unity state
claiming that rebels from South Kordofan have been organizing
themselves in the area to launch an offensive against the government.
In a joint statement issued in Khartoum by the two vice-presidents,
Machar and Taha, the two countries have committed themselves to
support peace initiatives in each other’s countries.
South Sudan officials, while acknowledging that fighters in the two
areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile were their former comrades in
the struggle, say they have no interest to support a war in Sudan but
would be ready to use their influence as “honest broker” for a
peaceful political settlement to the conflict.
SUDAN’S VP TAHA EXPECTED IN JUBA MONDAY
The Sudan’s first vice-president Ali Osman Taha is also expected to
lead a high level delegation to Juba on Monday and hold serious
bilateral discussions with his counter-part, Riek Machar.
During Taha’s visit it is expected that the two countries will
officially activate the various levels of mechanisms for
implementation of the cooperation agreements.
Taha will also participate in the celebrations of the 2nd anniversary
of independence of South Sudan on Tuesday.
These new developments clearly implies that the two countries have
pulled back from the brink amid regional and international worries
over a return to a stalemate that have marked the relationship of the
two ex-foes since their partition in July 2011.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"South Sudan Info - The Kob" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14ooZoJE%3DDSEWTcfdei%3DaWLQAy83udQTy2rE-W8H_yJYfJA%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
