Sudanese negotiations hit a dead-end

Dr Rabie Abdelati Obeid, Senior Member of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), told Arabstoday how security negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan collapsed in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday. Obeid attributed these dead-end negotiations to Juba's clinging of the so-called Northern Sector belonging to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which leads armed conflict in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile, thereby threatening the lives of citizens in both states. He stated that unless the Republic of South Sudan addresses this delicate situation, there would be no room for agreement or cooperation between the two countries. The chief negotiator for Southern Sudan Pagan Amum said in remarks in Addis Ababa: "The talks over border security between Sudan and South Sudan reached a stalemate, which raises the possibility of a prolonged disruption of oil exports through Sudanese territory. We hold Sudan responsible, because of its opposition to the development of new strategic cooperation between the two countries.” The Sudanese Vice President Dr Haj Adam Youssef told troops heading from Khartoum to Southern Kordofan to achieve security at any cost in South Kordofan on Tuesday afternoon. Observers believed that the failure of negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan in Juba, Khartoum and finally Addis Ababa mean that tensions are increasing between the two countries’ relations.