South Sudan on Thursday set conditions to pull out troops from the contested Heglig oil field seized from Khartoum's army this week, including a withdrawal by Sudan from Abyei, another disputed area.
“South Sudan would withdraw from Heglig if a guarantee can be provided that it will not be used for another attack against our territory,” Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told AFP.
“Firstly, all ground and air assaults by Sudan must end immediately,” Benjamin said, three days after Southern troops wrested control of Heglig, amidst heavy clashes between the rival armies.
“The Sudan Armed Forces still occupying Abyei must also withdraw entirely,” he added, referring to a contested area seized by Khartoum's forces last year.
“South Sudan would withdraw from Heglig if a guarantee can be provided that it will not be used for another attack against our territory,” Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told AFP.
“Firstly, all ground and air assaults by Sudan must end immediately,” Benjamin said, three days after Southern troops wrested control of Heglig, amidst heavy clashes between the rival armies.
“The Sudan Armed Forces still occupying Abyei must also withdraw entirely,” he added, referring to a contested area seized by Khartoum's forces last year.
Once that pullout is complete, “international monitors” would then have to ensure a demilitarized zone either side of the contested border until the frontier “can be demarcated under international arbitration.”
This week's clashes follow border fighting that erupted last month between the neighbors, and which each side has blamed the other for starting.
The unrest has prompted Khartoum to pull out of African Union-led crisis talks aimed at resolving the protracted dispute with Juba over oil, border demarcation, contested areas and citizenship issues.
The tone of this latest declaration offers clearer steps forward to end violence that many international observers fear could escalate into all-out war.
Earlier Thursday, Southern President Salva Kiir he would not order a pull back from Heglig, and threatened to send troops into Abyei if the United Nations did not pressure Khartoum to leave that area.
Kiir told lawmakers to a standing ovation that he had told UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a telephone call Wednesday that “if you are not moving these forces of Bashir out of Abyei, we are going to reconsider our position and we are going to head to Abyei.”
Both Kiir and his counterpart Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir have accused each other of wanting war, with both denying the charge.
World powers, including the AU, U.N., United States and China, have called for restraint and voiced deep concern at the escalation of violence.
This week's clashes follow border fighting that erupted last month between the neighbors, and which each side has blamed the other for starting.
The unrest has prompted Khartoum to pull out of African Union-led crisis talks aimed at resolving the protracted dispute with Juba over oil, border demarcation, contested areas and citizenship issues.
The tone of this latest declaration offers clearer steps forward to end violence that many international observers fear could escalate into all-out war.
Earlier Thursday, Southern President Salva Kiir he would not order a pull back from Heglig, and threatened to send troops into Abyei if the United Nations did not pressure Khartoum to leave that area.
Kiir told lawmakers to a standing ovation that he had told UN chief Ban Ki-moon in a telephone call Wednesday that “if you are not moving these forces of Bashir out of Abyei, we are going to reconsider our position and we are going to head to Abyei.”
Both Kiir and his counterpart Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir have accused each other of wanting war, with both denying the charge.
World powers, including the AU, U.N., United States and China, have called for restraint and voiced deep concern at the escalation of violence.
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