Sudan, South must cooperate to avoid 'suicide': ex-PM
KHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudan and South Sudan have no choice but to work together in order to avoid "suicide", former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi said on Tuesday.
"It is a win-win formula or a lose-lose formula," Mahdi, who leads a major opposition party, Umma, told a gathering organised by the South Sudanese embassy.
Sudan and South Sudan fought along their undemarcated frontier in March and April, sparking fears of wider war and leading to a UN Security Council resolution which ordered a ceasefire and the settlement of critical unresolved issues.
The two sides have no choice but to cooperate, Mahdi said, because "what is happening now is suicide".
After weeks of fragile talks in the Ethiopian capital, Sudan and South Sudan on August 4 reached a breakthrough agreement over fees due by Juba for shipping its oil through the north's pipeline for export.
In January the South shut its oil production -- the impoverished nation's prime revenue source -- after accusing the north of theft.
But Khartoum says the oil deal will not be implemented unless security issues are settled first.
Talks led by the African Union are due to resume in late August after the Muslim Eid holiday.
Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting insurgents on its territory, a charge analysts believe despite denials by the government in Juba, which in turn accuses Khartoum of backing rebels south of the frontier.
The oil deal came just after a UN-imposed August 2 deadline for the two sides to resolve that and other critical issues. Border disputes, the contested Abyei region, and the status of each country's nationals in the other remain to be settled.
Mahdi said the two countries must find a formula that recognises their mutual sovereignty while acknowledging their complementarity on a continent moving towards greater unity.
"There is no way we can keep borders as hard borders," said Mahdi, a democratically-elected leader who was overthrown in 1989 by President Omar al-Bashir.
South Sudan separated in July last year after a 2005 peace deal paved the way for independence following a 22-year civil war which killed two million people.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
Newer articles:
- South Sudan says talks with Kenya on crude oil pipeline progressing well - Platts - 15/08/2012 05:12
- UN starts food airdrops in South Sudan for Sudan refugees - euronews - 14/08/2012 23:27
- Kenya's Co-operative Bank sets up shop in South Sudan - Reuters Africa - 14/08/2012 19:03
- UN starts food airdrops in South Sudan for Sudan refugees - Chicago Tribune - 14/08/2012 18:11
- UN starts food airdrops in South Sudan for Sudan refugees - Reuters - 14/08/2012 17:10
Older news items
- Turtle Bay: China brokers tentative oil agreement between the Sudans - Foreign Policy (blog) - 14/08/2012 14:37
- Kenya's Co-operative Bank sets up shop in South Sudan - Reuters - 14/08/2012 14:09
- US$ 3 billion pricetag for South Sudan's oil pipeline - Energy Global - 14/08/2012 13:04
- South Sudanese workers at UN demonstrate to get paid in $ value - Borglobe - 14/08/2012 06:55
- Paying attention to South Sudan - Concord Monitor - 14/08/2012 00:36
Latest news items (all categories):
- UNDP and the Office of the Vice President Launches the Women and Youth Leadership Program in South Sudan - 14/02/2025 11:37
- The Grave Blunders And The Paradoxical Ways In Leadership Sector - 14/02/2025 11:32
- ADF approves $153.66 million for Uganda-South Sudan electricity interconnection project - 13/02/2025 20:48
- Rwandan peacekeepers in South Sudan get UN service medals for their service - 13/02/2025 20:44
- Afreximbank seeks to claw back US$657mn debt from South Sudan - 13/02/2025 20:30
Random articles (all categories):
- Wedding Invitation - 09/11/2010 02:00
- United Nations Police (UNPOL) officers train South Sudanese counterparts to support planned extension of community policing in Eastern Equatoria - 16/09/2022 01:58
- South Sudan rebel in Kenyan talks - 29/05/2014 21:55
- Prsbyterian Church calls for end to violence in South Sudan - 20/09/2020 17:13
- Four Dead in Cattle Raid Near South Sudan Capital - 06/05/2013 20:33
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 73147 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 22398 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 21624 times
- Top 10 weakest currency exchange rates in Africa in 2023 - 19/07/2023 00:24 - Read 19511 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 19258 times