UN urges Khartoum against oil shutdown
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN Security Council urged Khartoum on Friday to halt its threat to close the economically vital pipeline network carrying South Sudanese oil.
In a unanimous declaration, the 15 council members welcomed South Sudan President Salva Kiir's commitment to investigate abuses against civilians in Jonglei state and hold those responsible to account.
They also hailed the demarcation of a demilitarized zone on both sides of the unmarked 1,200-mile (2,000-kilometer) border between the two Sudans.
"The Security Council urges the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to maintain dialogue to ensure continued transportation of oil from South Sudan, and the government of Sudan to suspend any actions to halt the transportation of oil from South Sudan to allow these mechanisms to complete their work," it said in a statement.
Khartoum has twice postponed an order for oil companies to stop transporting crude from landlocked South Sudan through Sudan's pipeline system to the Red Sea export terminal.
The order, first issued in June and now postponed until September 6, came after President Omar al-Bashir accused the South's government of backing rebels in the north.
In late July, Khartoum extended the deadline to August 22.
Since its July 2011 independence, South Sudan, which inherited 75 percent of oil reserves at the time of partition, depends on its neighbor's infrastructure to export the resource.
Oil has kept flowing despite Sudan's threat to close the line.
The South's oil export revenues, and the fees it must pay Khartoum for use of the oil infrastructure, are potentially worth billions of dollars to both.
The Security Council also noted its "grave concern about the highly volatile situation" in the disputed Abyei area, which lies on the border between the two nations.
It called for the parties to "immediately" resume negotiations to agree on Abyei's final status.
Sudanese government forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) rebel group must also "cease hostilities and engage in direct talks" to end two years of conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.