Following the independence of South Sudan, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact joel@insightonconflict.org or complete the form below.
News roundup
- 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
