‘All treaties with South Sudan cancelled’ as Khartoum vows to halt flow of oil

The Sudanese government has announced that it is “cancelling all treaties and agreements with South Sudan in reaction to the country’s continued support of the rebels”. At a press conference organised by the Sudan News Agency in Khartoum’s Friendship Hall, Sudan’s Minister of Information, Dr Ahmed Bilal Osman, announced on Sunday that “the government has cancelled all agreements between Sudan and South Sudan,” and that “the pumping of South Sudanese oil via Sudanese pipelines is also to be stopped”. According to sources, President Omar Al Bashir said this decision was “in response to Juba’s continued support to the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels fighting Khartoum on multiple fronts”. “We previously gave Juba a two-week ultimatum to suspend its support for the traitors and mercenaries of the SRF.” Al Bashir on Saturday ordered Oil Minister Awad Ahmed Al Jaz to block the pipeline carrying landlocked South Sudan’s crude oil to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast: “The oil of South Sudan will not pass through Sudan ever again. Let them take it via Kenya or Djibouti or wherever they want to take it.” “This move will have no negative influence on the Sudanese economy because all incomes from the transport of oil have been kept out of the budget for the last two years,” Minister Osman asserts. “Sudanese national security cannot be traded for a few dollars,” he said, acknowledging that “the decision will be damaging for both countries, but the damage to South Sudan will be greater.” Osman said that the technical procedure to shut-down the oil supply will last two months. The South Sudan Minister of Information, Bernaba Marial Benjamin denied that his country has received any official notification of the closure or cancellation of the treaties. Speaking to Radio Dabanga from Juba, he said that this government has had to glean what it could from media reports. “If this is true, the South Sudan government will lodge an official complaint with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the African Union (AU) and all other stakeholders in the internationally brokered agreement.” Benjamin branded Khartoum’s move as “strange”, stressing that the Juba government “adheres to all treaties with the Sudanese government” and denies that Juba has given any support to the SRF. “We have no resources to do so,” he says. “The oil pipelines were closed for two years, so we simply have no means by which to support the Sudanese rebels.” He highlighted that an estimated 700,000 barrels of crude oil are currently in the pipeline and questioned whether the Sudanese government will be able to compensate for that. “There are also dangers involved in closing the pipeline. It could explode, which will result in an environmental catastrophe. Our geographical location means that the environmental impact would impact on countries all the way down the Nile including Sudan and Egypt.” Benjamin added that his government holds Khartoum responsible for any damages. It has been widely reported that the South Sudan government has recently met with international investors, particularly from Japan, to explore building an alternative pipeline, but such a project could take several years to complete. The Chairman of the National Consensus Forces, the non-armed opposition forces in Khartoum, Farouk Abu Issa compared Bashir’s decision to “someone poking his own eye out.” Speaking to Radio Dabanga, he said “Sudan has no alternative but to reverse this decision.”“The treaty is the result of a UNSC Resolution, and if Sudan does not adhere to it, it will result in more international sanctions.” He described the move as ‘disastrous’ for Sudanese economy. “It could even lead to the collapse of the Sudanese Pound and then to inflation. South Sudan might be able to find alternative financing but not Sudan,” he warned.File photoRelated: South Sudan denies offering support to rebels (12 May 2013)