Rival Sudans fail to resolve oil row

28/01/2012| IslamWeb

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and his South Sudan counterpart, Salva Kiir, have failed to resolve a dispute over oil after day-long talks hosted by an African peace bloc in Ethiopia.

The two leaders met on Friday in Addis Ababa amid heightened tensions after the South accused Khartoum of stealing $815m worth of crude oil.

"These talks ... have reached an impasse because of the intransigence of the government of Sudan," Pagan Amum, South Sudan's chief negotiator, said after the meeting.

"The mood of course was not good because you can imagine sitting with somebody who is stealing your property."

Sudan admits to taking oil from the South, but says it was to compensate for export fees and use of its refineries.

The South this week began to halt oil production after it ordered a complete shutdown over the dispute with Khartoum, a former civil war foe. Over half the wells are now shut, the South says.

The leaders proposed a deal to reverse unilateral decisions by the countries and to work on signing a comprehensive agreement, Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian prime minister, said.

He said the talks would continue at an African Union summit starting on Sunday.

Meles is the current chair of the regional bloc, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development.

Bashir and Kiir left the meeting separately and refused to comment.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Somali leader Sharif Sheik Ahmed, and Djibouti's Ismael Omar Guelleh also attended the talks in Addis Ababa.

South Sudan split from Sudan in July, taking with it three-quarters of the country's oil, which makes up more than 90 per cent of the South's revenue.

Seeking alternatives

In a related development, South Sudan signed an agreement with Kenya on Tuesday to build an oil pipeline to a Kenyan port, potentially freeing it from its dependence on exporting oil through Sudan.

South Sudan has also approached Ethiopia to build a pipeline connecting to the Red Sea state of Djibouti.

Earlier this month, South Sudan signed its first oil deals with foreign nations since it won independence last July, signing agreements with Chinese, Indian and Malaysian firms.

The deals, which replace deals signed with Khartoum under a unified Sudan, cover oil production in the two key petroleum states of Unity and Upper Nile.

Sudan also opened bids to international companies days after the South sealed its deals.

After South Sudan gained its independence in July, Sudan, which also depends on oil, was searching for ways to bolster its finances.

PHOTO CAPTION

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir welcomes his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir during his arrival at Khartoum Airport October 8,2011.

Al-Jazeera