Sudan differs from halting South Sudan oil exports; UNAMID chief presses for peace in Darfur; EAC rejects Sudan’s bid to join the regional bloc as South Sudan’s application is deferred; Sudan army captures Tarogi area in South Kordofan; ICC seeks arrest w
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    • SUDAN

    According to reports, the Sudanese government appeared to have reversed a decision it announced earlier by which oil exports from South Sudan passing through the north’s pipelines would come to a halt. The foreign ministry spokesperson Al-Obaid Marawih told in Khartoum that South Sudan would still be able to export its oil through its territories until both countries reach an agreement on fees that should be assessed for using the pipelines and refineries. Marawih also denied any intention to block exports of oil from Sudan’s southern neighbour.1

    In another development, the UNAMID chief, Ibrahim Gambari once again called on regional and international partners of Darfur peace process to put more pressures on the rebel groups in order to join negotiating table and dissuade them from escalating violence in the western Sudan. He furthermore said he was concerned by the recent alliance between Darfur rebels and those in the South Kordofan and Blue Nile. In a briefing to the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Gambari warned that the renewal of violence in Darfur would damage the progress made since the signing of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).2

    Meanwhile, in a major diplomatic blow to Khartoum’s ambitions of joining the regional bloc, Sudan’s request to be admitted to the East Africa Community (EAC) was officially rejected. The rejection of Sudan’s application was contained in a communiqué issued at the conclusion of the EAC’s head-of-states summit in Bujumbura, Burundi. Meanwhile, Sudan’s president al-Bashir has reacted by hinting at a conspiracy to turn his country into a pariah state.3

    In a related development, the EAC’s head-of-states summit deferred application of South Sudan to join the regional bloc for further scrutiny. According to the summit’s final communiqué, South Sudan’s application is to be deferred to the EAC’s council of ministers to decide whether it undergo further scrutiny to decide whether it met the benchmarks.4

    In another development, the Sudanese army (SAF) claimed that it seized control of an area in South Kordofan State from the hands of the rebels Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N). In a statement, the country’s media minister Kamal Ubayd announced that SAF regained control of an area he called Tarogi. Ubayd said that the “liberation” represents “an important victory”, congratulating SAF for the efforts it made to secure it.5

    In other developments, according to reports, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo sought an arrest warrant for Sudan's defence minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur from August 2003 to March 2004. Husseing, who was Khartoum's interior minister at the time, is wanted for coordinating attacks against civilians in at least six villages in western Darfur.6

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