South Sudan has accused the Khartoum government of rejecting peace overtures while its forces bomb targets within the south. Thus, African Union-mediated talks in Addis Ababa are in peril of collapse.
South Sudan chief negotiator Pagan Amum says Sudanese warplanes bombed southern positions for a seventh day Sunday, while Khartoum's defense minister spurned scheduled security talks. He said the minister's absence for a gathering of a Joint Political and Security Mechanism (JPSM) shows Sudan is rejecting the AU-mediated peace process.
"Unfortunately, the response of Khartoum is war. They've launched aerial and ground attacks from Monday. As much as today they're bombing South Sudan. The govt of Sudan is the one who is waging war, the top of the JPSM on their side isn't here. The Meeting was imagined to turn up yesterday, and he has not appeared."
Officials of the AU mediation panel described the talks as "on hold†pending the appearance of the Sudanese defense minister. They held out hope that he was on his way after receiving what was described as a private invitation from the manager mediator, former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
Trading accusations
The South Sudanese delegation that arrived for the scheduled start of the talks was clearly upset at having to attend while defense ministry officials in Khartoum care for what they are saying is an army incursion from the south.
Chief southern negotiator Pagan Amum flatly rejected reports of an army incursion into Sudanese territory.
"There isn't a South Sudanese presence. Not a single South Sudanese soldier on Sudanese soil".
Mediators had hoped the talks would result in a rescheduling of a summit meeting between Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. The meeting had originally been set for April 3 within the South Sudanese capital, Juba. However the Khartoum government backed out of the meeting after accusing the South of attacking the Sudanese oil center of Heglig last Monday.
The south vehemently denies the attack, and accuses Sudan of instigating the clash.
Remaining hopeful
Mediation panel sources remained hopeful Sunday that the Juba summit might still be held, though it is usually delayed per week. They are saying a gathering of the presidents is important to breaking logjams which have delayed progress within the talks on key issues, including sharing oil revenues.
South Sudan is expounded to be in especially desperate straits after shutting down its oil production in January. Oil accounts for 98 percent of the country's income.
South Sudan's Foreign Minister Nhial Deng Nhial tells VOA his government will be willing to maneuver the summit to a neutral site, probably Addis Ababa, if that might ease Khartoum's objections.
"We haven't any objection in any respect to meeting President Bashir in a venue except for Juba in South Sudan, though we might prefer President Bashir to return to Juba, as a return because President Salva paid a trip to Khartoum last October and the knowledge was that President Bashir would come to Juba. But when for any reason he feels coming to Juba is objectionable, we haven't any problem meeting him anywhere else."
African Union officials said mediation panel chief Thabo Mbeki was willing to stick so long as essential to get the 2 sides to implement a Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism. The mechanism is aimed toward preventing a war by jointly examining outbreaks of hostilities along the disputed frontier. The mechanism was portion of an agreement signed last June, weeks before the south declared independence from Khartoum. Â
From WhatNewsToday.net
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