S.Sudan negotiator in Khartoum over deals deadlock - AFP

Sudan rebels no benefit to South: chief negotiator

By Abdelmoneim Abu Edris Ali (AFP) – 2 hours ago 

KHARTOUM — Rebels operating across the Sudan-South Sudan border are of no benefit to the South, Juba's top negotiator said on Sunday, addressing the South's alleged support for rebels which has held up key deals between the two countries.

Khartoum has repeatedly accused South Sudan of supporting the insurgents fighting in Sudan's border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, a charge which Juba has denied.

But after what he called successful talks with Sudanese officials in Khartoum, the South's lead negotiator Pagan Amum said: "The presence of insurgents at the border will not serve the benefit of South Sudan.

"They can be a reason for losing the trust between Sudan and South Sudan, and can be an obstacle to building relations between the two states," he told reporters.

Deals signed two months ago between Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir included setting up a demilitarised buffer zone along the border to cut support for the insurgents in Sudan and to allow a resumption of South Sudanese oil exports through northern pipelines.

In January, South Sudan halted crude production -- which accounts for almost all of its government revenue -- after accusing Khartoum of theft in a long-running dispute over transit fees.

The security arrangements have to fall into place before oil can flow and the borders open again to trade, Princeton Lyman, the United States special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, said on Thursday after talks with officials in Khartoum.

He said a lack of trust between Khartoum and Juba has prevented implementation of the deals, and warned that obtaining that trust will be difficult unless the rebellion ends in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting its former civil war allies in the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a charge which analysts believe.

"We have a historical relation with SPLM-North and this can be useful" in helping Sudan solve its dispute with the rebels, if Khartoum asks for help, Amum said.

In turn, he asked for Sudan's assistance to deal with "armed groups that it supports" in South Sudan.

Concern has grown that the September agreements, which Bashir and Kiir hailed as ending conflict, have not taken effect.

The two countries fought along their undemarcated border in March and April, and tensions flared anew late last month when South Sudan blamed Khartoum for aerial bombing which it said killed seven civilians.

Amum said the two sides have now agreed "to activate the mechanisms and the structures of the agreements."

He spoke following talks with Nafie Ali Nafie, assistant to President Omar al-Bashir. After arriving on Saturday, Amum met with Sudanese negotiators as well as Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein.

"It was a successful meeting," Amum said, adding that South Sudanese crude could start to flow again by the end of this year.

"As of November 20, all preparation to pump the oil was finished, and everything is ready," he said.

Sudan's official SUNA news agency quoted Nafie as saying the two sides agreed to accelerate efforts to overcome obstacles to implementing the September pacts.

"He said that the two parties also underscored (the) importance of boosting the bilateral relations in all fields so that the two peoples enjoy security, peace and stability," SUNA reported.

Under a peace agreement that ended a 1983-2005 civil war, South Sudan separated in July 2011, taking with it about 75 percent of the formerly united country's oil production.

A resulting economic crisis has pushed Sudan's inflation rate to more than 40 percent and pressured the Sudanese pound.

On Sunday, it dropped to a new black market low of 6.5 pounds to the US dollar, traders said, citing the lack of agreement between Sudan and South Sudan as a factor in the currency's weakness.

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