A weekly round-up from Peace Direct (www.peacedirect.org)

NEWS ROUND-UP

Talks aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute over oil between Sudan and South Sudan have broken down. The two countries did agree to immediately begin demarcating their shared border.

South Sudan says Sudan has violated the recent non-aggression pact by bombing a disputed border town.

The loss of oil revenues has forced South Sudan to halve non-salary spending. South Sudan’s vice president, Riek Machar, says South Sudan can cope without oil.

There have been angry protests in Khartoum where South Sudanese fired from government jobs blocked a major road while demanding severance benefits. Sudanese police raided a university campus at the centre of recent anti-government protests, arresting hundreds.

NEWS IN DETAIL

Sudan-South Sudan relations

Reuters: Sudan and South Sudan agree to start drawing border
17 Feb: Sudan and South Sudan want to have the bulk of their loosely-defined and volatile border demarcated as soon as within three months, a Sudanese official said on Thursday, in a possible bid to ease tensions between the two former civil war foes. Read more

AFP: Sudan-South Sudan rivals still far apart in oil talks - minister
14 Feb: Sudan and South Sudan still remain far apart in negotiations to resolve a furious oil dispute threatening to reignite fighting between the former civil war foes, a minister said Tuesday. Read more

Reuters: Sudan seizes 2.4 million barrels of South’s oil - South Sudan
14 Feb: Sudan has confiscated 2.4 million barrels of South Sudan’s oil, bringing the total volume of crude Khartoum has seized in a row over oil transit fees to more than 6 million barrels since December, a South Sudanese official said on Tuesday. Read more

AP: South Sudan accuses Sudan of breaking peace pact
14 Feb: South Sudan on Tuesday accused its northern neighbour Sudan of bombing a border town, violating a non-aggression agreement between the two nations just hours after it was signed. Read more

Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Abyei

Reuters: UN council urges Sudan and rebels to let in aid teams
15 Feb: The UN Security Council on Tuesday called on Sudan and rebels in areas bordering South Sudan to grant immediate access for UN aid workers to the turbulent region, expressing “deep and growing alarm” at rising hunger levels. Read more

South Sudan

Reuters: South Sudan oil row with Khartoum hurting China ties
15 Feb: South Sudan on Wednesday said its relations with China are being strained by accusations that Chinese oil firms may have co-operated with Sudan in seizing a portion of its oil in a row over transit payments. Read more

Sudan Tribune: South Sudan VP hosts peace talks between Lakes, Unity and Warrap States
18 Feb: South Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar Teny urged on Saturday the three neighbouring state governors of Warrap, Unity and Lake States to create peaceful borders and relations. Read more

BBC: South Sudan can cope without oil, says Vice-President Machar
17 Feb: South Sudan will survive despite halting its vital oil production in a dispute with Sudan, the country’s Vice-President Riek Machar has told the BBC. Read more

Reuters: South Sudan cuts non-salary spending by 50 per cent
19 Feb: South Sudan said on Sunday it would cut non-salary spending by around 50 per cent as part of austerity measures to compensate for the loss of oil revenues due to a row with Khartoum. Read more

Sudan

Reuters: Sacked South Sudanese block Khartoum road, hurl rocks
15 Feb: South Sudanese fired from their government jobs in neighbouring Sudan blocked a major road in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Wednesday, hurling rocks at passing cars and demanding severance benefits, witnesses said. Read more

Reuters: Sudan police raid campus, arrest hundreds - activists
17 Feb: Sudanese police arrested hundreds of students in a pre-dawn raid on dormitories in the University of Khartoum on Friday, in a crackdown on a campus that has been at the centre of recent anti-government protests, activists said. Read more

International

Sudan Tribune: Sudan formally notified by US on debt relief plan and Abyei proposal
19 Feb: The Sudanese minister of finance and national economy, Ali Mahmood, confirmed that Khartoum received a formal notification from the United States on its proposal submitted as part of the 2013 budget to cancel all of the country’s $2.4 billion debt. Read more

A weekly round-up from Peace Direct (www.peacedirect.org)

NEWS ROUND-UP
Some progress was made toward resolving the oil crisis. Sudan and South Sudan have signed a non-aggression pact. The two countries have also agreed to co-operate on the transfer back to South Sudan of some 300,000 ethnic South Sudanese living in Sudan. The oil crisis has begun to impact both the Sudanese and South Sudanese economies.

South Sudan has signed an agreement to build a pipeline to Djibouti via Ethiopia.

In Blue Nile, the Sudanese army says it has taken control of a rebel-held area. The UN has launched an appeal for $145 million to help the thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict in Blue Nile and South Kordofan.

The Darfur Regional Authority created to promote development has been launched. Establishing the authority was part of a peace deal between the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement rebel group.

Amnesty International has criticised China and Russia for supplying arms to Sudan. Amnesty say the weapons are being used against civilians in Darfur.

The UN has warned of a looming food crisis in South Sudan if urgent action is not taken.

NEWS IN DETAIL

Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Abyei
Reuters: Sudan army says it has seized rebel-held area in border state
11 Feb: Sudan's armed forces said on Saturday they had seized an area held by rebels after a battle lasting two days in the border state of Blue Nile where fighting has been raging for five months. Read more

AFP: $145m UN appeal for Sudan refugees
10 Feb: The UN refugee agency said on Friday it needs $145 million (110 million euros) in extra funds to help thousands fleeing fighting in Sudan's Blue Nile and South Kordofan states. Read more

North-South relations
BBC: Sudan and South Sudan sign peace pact, says Thabo Mbeki
11 Feb: Sudan and South Sudan have signed a non-aggression pact, the chief mediator at crisis talks between the two says. Read more

AFP: Sudan, South Sudan sign returnees deal - agency
12 Feb: Sudan and South Sudan agreed on Sunday to cooperate in the transfer of more than 300,000 people to the South, the official SUNA news agency said. Read more

Reuters: Trafigura deals in disputed Sudanese oil
08 Feb: Swiss-based commodities trader Trafigura has bought oil which the South Sudanese government claims was seized by Sudan, industry sources told Reuters, and is now in a legal dispute over ownership. Read more

South Sudan
CNN: UN warns of food crisis in South Sudan
08 Feb: Less than a week after the United Nations declared an end to the famine in Somalia, a new report from the world body says millions of people in South Sudan will now face hunger if urgent action is not taken. Read more

AFP: South Sudan signs oil pipeline deal to Djibouti via Ethiopia
09 Feb: South Sudan has signed an agreement to build an oil pipeline to the port of Djibouti via neighbouring Ethiopia, officials said on Thursday, after Juba shut down its only export route via former foe Sudan. Read more

Africa Review: South Sudan halts printing of local currency
11 Feb: South Sudan has stopped printing of its local currency to avoid devaluation, in the wake of the shutdown of oil production due to squabbles with Sudan. Read more

Reuters: South Sudan oil output at risk in 2012 - IEA
10 Feb: South Sudanese oil output could remain absent from world markets in the near future, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday, as the country struggles to reach a revenue-sharing agreement with its northern neighbour. Read more

VOA: South Sudan businesses fear oil shutdown fallout
08 Feb: When South Sudan decided to shut down its oil production to protest against alleged injustices from the north, the country was also cutting off 98 per cent of its revenue. Businessmen in the south are particularly concerned about the economic consequences of the shutdown. Read more

Sudan
Reuters: Sudan inflation rises to 19.3% in December, driven by food
07 Feb: Annual inflation in Sudan accelerated to 19.3 per cent in January, from 18.9 per cent in December, as food costs rose, the government said on Tuesday. Read more

Reuters: Sudan's currency hits low as oil row hits economy
06 Feb: Sudan's currency fell to a record low on the black market on Monday as people rushed to convert their savings into dollars, fearing a dispute with South Sudan over oil revenues could worsen the country's economic crisis. Read more

Darfur
BBC: Darfur Regional Authority launched
08 Feb: Sudan's president has launched a body intended to kick-start development in the war-torn western region of Darfur. Read more

VOA: Rights group criticizes Russia and China for supplying Sudan with weapons
09 Feb: Amnesty International says that weapons from Russia and China are being used by the Sudanese government to commit serious human rights violations against civilians. Read more

 

A weekly round-up from Peace Direct (www.peacedirect.org)

NEWS ROUND-UP
As the dispute over oil continues, both Sudan and South Sudan have talked up the possibility of war. In a television broadcast, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said the two countries were closer to war than peace. Earlier in the week, Sudan accused the South of "hostility", and said it would hold the South responsible for any attacks on northern oil infrastructure. Meanwhile, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir talked of the need for a comprehensive agreement, which settled issues such as Abyei, if future conflict is to be avoided. South Sudan has rejected an African Union proposal which would see the South pay $6.5 billion to Sudan in oil transit fees. South Sudan shut down all oil production just over a week ago, a decision the UN says will increase South Sudan's dependence on food aid.

The US has accused Sudan of targeting civilians in airstrikes in South Kordofan. In a recent attack, a US-funded bible school was destroyed.

The World Food Program says up to 500,000 refugees could flee Sudan for South Sudan if aid agencies are not allowed into border regions affected by conflict and food shortages.

The UN says it is investigating reports of 80 people massacred by uniformed armed men in Warrap state, South Sudan. 37 people were killed during a firefight at a meeting held to resolve cattle disputes in Unity state.

NEWS IN DETAIL

North-South relations
AFP: Sudan closer to war than peace with south: Bashir
04 Feb: Sudan is closer to war than peace with the breakaway state of South Sudan, President Omar al-Bashir said on national television on Friday, with a dispute over oil and other issues stoking tensions. Read more

AFP: South Sudan warns of war without ‘comprehensive' deal
02 Feb: The president of South Sudan warned on Thursday of renewed conflict with former foes in north Sudan if bitter oil negotiations do not include a deal on other key issues, including the contested Abyei region. Read more

Reuters: Sudan says South Sudan "hostile" in oil row
01 Feb: Sudan, stepping up its rhetoric, accused South Sudan of "hostility" in their row over oil transit fees and said it would hold Juba responsible for any attack on northern oil facilities, a state-linked news website said on Wednesday. Read more

Reuters: South Sudan rejects African Union oil plan - Financial Times
01 Feb: South Sudan's chief negotiator has rejected African Union-backed proposals that could see it pay up to $6.5 billion to Sudan in the latest attempt to break a deadlock between the two over oil export transit fees, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Read more

Reuters: Sudan frees South Sudan's oil tankers; dispute continues
30 Jan: Sudan released tankers loaded with South Sudanese oil that had been held at Port Sudan in a row over export transit fees, days after Khartoum seized crude from its new neighbour and offered it at a steeply discounted price. Read more

Reuters: Sudan asked Petrodar to load South Sudan oil - South Sudan
31 Jan: Sudan asked Chinese-Malaysian oil venture Petrodar to load 600,000 barrels of South Sudanese crude for export but the firm refused, a Southern official said on Tuesday, a development likely to further inflame a row over transit fees. Read more

Sudan
CNN: US accuses Sudan of bombing civilians
04 Feb: The United States accused Sudan of targeting civilians in recent airstrikes, including one that destroyed a Bible school in South Kordofan, an oil-rich Sudanese province that borders the newly-created independent country of South Sudan. Read more

Reuters: Sudan rebels "seeking way" to hand over abducted Chinese
04 Feb: Sudanese rebels said they are looking for ways to hand over 29 Chinese workers held in the border state of South Kordofan, Chinese state media said, as Sudan's government confirmed the death of one worker in a firefight. Read more

Bloomberg: Sudan security agents arrest opposition members, Umma Party says
31 Jan: Four members of Sudan's main opposition Umma party were arrested yesterday in the capital, Khartoum, party officials said. Read more

Reuters: Up to 500,000 new refugees could flee to South Sudan - WFP
30 Jan: Conflict and food shortages could push up to half a million Sudanese refugees to flee to South Sudan in the next couple months, if Khartoum does not allow aid agencies more access to its restive border regions, the World Food Program said. Read more

South Sudan
Reuters: South Sudan shoot-out kills 37, wounds UN policeman
04 Feb: A shoot-out among South Sudanese security forces using truck-mounted machine guns killed 37 people and injured a United Nations policeman on Wednesday, UN and government officials said on Friday. Read more

Reuters: UN investigates reports of South Sudan massacre
01 Feb: The UN mission in South Sudan is investigating reports of a massacre of nearly 80 people by armed men in uniforms, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Read more

Reuters: South Sudan oil shutdown to increase food aid dependence - UN
03 Feb: South Sudan's decision to shut down its oil output will make many more people dependent on food aid in one of the world's most undeveloped nations, the United Nations said. Read more

Sudan Tribune: 13 killed in attacks this week - Jonglei MP
05 Feb: Officials in South Sudan's Jonglei state say armed raiders killed more than ten people in two separate attacks in Akobo and Bor counties this week, in the latest violence to affect the country's largest state. Read more

Bloomberg: South Sudan says Total ready to start oil exploration in Jonglei
31 Jan: Total SA (FP) has agreed to begin oil exploration in the South Sudanese state of Jonglei where it holds a concession, South Sudan's chief negotiator said. Read more