Rapprochement between Sudan, South Sudan Hailed

[sudan]

Sudan and South Sudan will normalise ties and start cross-border cooperation, Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir has said.
Al Bashir made the comments on Friday during his first visit to South Sudan since July 2011 when the south seceded and became an independent state.

"This visit shows the start of cooperation based on a normalisation of relations between the two countries," Al Bashir said in a speech in the capital, Juba.

South Sudan's Salva Kiir said he had agreed with Al Bashir to continue a dialogue to solve all outstanding conflicts between the African neighbours.



"Some issues need more discussions," Kiir said, adding that he had accepted an invitation from Al Bashir to visit Sudan soon, his second trip since the secession.

A military band played the national anthems of the two countries as the two heads of state greeted South Sudanese ministers assembled to welcome Al Bashir.

Disputed border

The two nations agreed in March to resume cross-border oil flows and take steps to defuse tension that has plagued them since South Sudan seceded from Sudan in July 2011 following a treaty which ended decades of civil war.

Speaking alongside Kiir, Al Bashir said he had ordered Sudan's borders with South Sudan to be opened for traffic.

"I have instructed Sudan's authorities and civil society to open up to their brothers in the Republic of South Sudan," he said.

UN Secretary-General commended both Presidents for their decision “to continue their efforts to resolve the Abyei issue in accordance with the implementation matrix,” and also urged the leaders to resolve their differences regarding the area's final settlement.

In addition, Mr. Ban welcomed the resumption of oil production by South Sudan and its transit and export through Sudan's oil pipeline “as an sign of progress towards the normalization of relations between the two parties” following the establishment of the Safe Border Zone

 

[sudan]

Sudan.Net: Your Complete Guide on Sudan

 

[waltky]

That oughta help bring oil prices down some more...

More Oil Fields in South Sudan Come Back On Stream
September 12, 2013 10:23 PM — Two oil fields in South Sudan's Unity state came back on stream Thursday, 21 months after they were shut down amid a row with Khartoum over pipeline fees.

South Sudan’s Petroleum Minister Stephen Dhieu Dau said the reopening of the El Tor and Toma South fields will not only lead to an increase in oil production in Unity state but also signalled a warming of relations with Khartoum. “We believe that by entering a new production to the unity oil field production that will increase the current production from 25,000 barrels a day to around 30,000 and this is good news for the stakeholders that will contribute to our economy,” Dau said. “The two countries have resolved the flow of oil and issues that were impeding the oil flow through the pipeline and facilities in the territory of South Sudan, and we want to build strategies for bilateral relations," he said.

South Sudan's Minister for Petroleum and Mining Stephen Dhieu Dau (L) pushes a button to resume production at an oil field in South Sudan early this year.

Two more fields in Unity State are scheduled to come online in November and December, producing an additional 30,000 barrels per day. Beny Ngor Chol, production manager for Greater Pioneer Operating Company, expressed the hope that the resumption of oil production would spur development in the area. “We made a decision to shut down the oil because of some technical, political unrest between two nations, and now we are resuming. It means that we will get more money to the country. When we talk of more money it means there is a development, which will help education and other social welfare. So people are celebrating,” he said.

But he cautioned that poor roads and inclement weather will make it difficult in the short term for companies to access the wells. "That means you will see our production is coming down... but soon, in the next couple of months, I believe our production will boom," he said.

More Oil Fields in South Sudan Come Back On Stream

 

[waltky]

So. Sudan `bout to break down into civil war...

South Sudan said on 'brink of an all-out ethnic civil war'
Thursday 15th December, 2016 -- South Sudan is "on the brink of an all-out ethnic civil war which could destabilize the entire region," the head of a team of UN investigators told the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, describing a shattered country where children as young as 2 have been raped.

Yasmin Sooka addressed the council at a meeting in Geneva requested by the United States as alarm grows about the rise of hate speech by South Sudanese officials and others as civil war grinds on. Tens of thousands have been killed in fighting in South Sudan, and more than a million people have fled the East African country. Sooka said thousands of women have been raped. The recent visit by the UN team of investigators found indications that "a steady process of ethnic cleansing is already underway in some parts of the country," Sooka said. She said fighting is expected to "begin in earnest" now that the dry season has arrived in South Sudan.

A man collecting bodies to bury in a mass grave approaches a burned hut containing charred corpses, on the outskirts of Yei, in southern South Sudan​

The Human Rights Council approved without a vote a resolution expressing concern at "ethnically motivated incitement to hatred and violence by all sides," condemning sexual violence and calling on all involved to end rights abuses. South Sudan's representative said the council meeting to discuss his country wasn't necessary. Also Wednesday, South Sudan President Salva Kiir in a speech to parliament called for a national dialogue that would attempt to redefine the country's national identity. Kiir again called for a cease-fire in the civil war but offered few details on how it would work with multiple opposition groups across the country. Kiir also urged an end to expressions of ethnic hatred. "I am calling upon all of you to forgive one another," he said.

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, told the council meeting that "there may still be some space for consequential action to pull the country back from a worst-case scenario," noting that when local leaders intervened recently to halt hate speech, threats of violence decreased. South Sudan's government remains under international pressure to quickly allow the deployment of an additional 4,000 peacekeepers to help protect civilians.

South Sudan said on 'brink of an all-out ethnic civil war'