Sudan vows to fight until South troops withdraw

KHARTOUM/JUBA Sudan has stopped fighting inside South Sudan in line with a UN resolution, but will continue battling Southern troops who remain on northern territory, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

“We are not now conducting hostilities inside South Sudan but on our territory we will not halt the fighting until South Sudan’s troops withdraw,” ministry spokesman Al-Obeid Meruh said.

Sudan’s army spokesman said South Sudan has not stopped hostilities in line with a UN resolution because it continues to “occupy” points along the disputed border.

“From our side the government is committed to the UN Security Council resolution by stopping hostilities,” Sawarmi Khaled Saad said.

Sudan and South Sudan said they would cease hostilities to honour a UN deadline that passed on Friday after weeks of bitter border clashes that sparked fears of full scale conflict.

Rival forces remained in a tense standoff across their contested border, but both Khartoum and Juba have pledged to seek peace after the UN Security Council on Wednesday threatened sanctions if the fighting continued.

“There’s nothing happening, or let’s hope so,” said South Sudan’s army spokesman Philip Aguer.

“The SPLA (army) is in a defensive position and have been told today by the commander in chief... not to move and to respect the ceasefire.”

However, Aguer said Sudanese artillery had bombarded the south’s frontline army bases at Panakuach, Lalop and Teshwin earlier on Friday, and troops remained on alert “monitoring for a possible attack.”

Khartoum claimed that Juba had not stopped hostilities because it continues to “occupy” points along the disputed border.

Sudanese army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad said “the other side still has a presence inside our land,” alleging that Juba’s army occupied two points along the border with Darfur, “and this means they haven’t stopped hostilities.

“In Khartoum, the camp is divided between those who want war and those who want peace, unlike South Sudan that has accepted the UN Security Council resolution, so we’ll see if they agree,” Aguer said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed Sudan on Friday to cease bombing the South.

“Together we need to keep sending a strong message to the government of Sudan that it must immediately and unconditionally halt all cross-border attacks, particularly its provocative aerial bombardments,” Clinton said during a meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing, according to her prepared remarks.

China has previously come under strong US criticism for its support of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who faces an international arrest warrant on Darfur genocide allegations.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay will visit South Sudan next week to discuss the protection of civilians affected by the border conflict.

While still one country, north and south Sudan fought a two-decade civil war up to 2005 in which more than two million people died.

Separately, the Human Rights Watch said Sudan government air attacks in South Kordofan have left scores of civilian dead and thousands hiding in mountain caves after losing their homes. The rights group said “indiscriminate” government attacks in the Nuba Mountains region of the state – which have been overshadowed by worsening hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan– could amount to war crimes.
Source http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=118377&heading=News%20in%20Details