Khartoum - Sudan is
"very optimistic" it can reach a border security agreement with South
Sudan that would allow a resumption of oil exports from the South, a
senior official of the Khartoum government said.
Sudan's Second Vice President al-Haj Adam Youssef said both sides
did not need to solve all outstanding conflicts to reach such an
agreement.
"We are very optimistic about the (border) security issue," he told reporters on Saturday.
His comments were the strongest indication yet that the border
security issue between the two hostile African neighbors can be solved.
Oil is essential to both countries and they have reached an
agreement about how much landlocked South Sudan will have to pay to
export its oil through northern pipelines, ending a dispute that saw the
South shut down its entire output in January.
But before exports can resume Sudan wants a security agreement
for the 1,800 kilometer (1,200 mile) long border, much of which is
disputed.
Border fighting brought the two countries close to another war in
April. It was worst violence since South Sudan became independent a
year ago under a peace agreement to end a long-running civil war with
the North.
Youssef said the neighbours could finalise some of the most
difficult issues left over from southern secession - such as the fate of
the disputed border region of Abyei - after agreeing on a border
security deal.
A buffer zone would be set up once the border had been marked.
"We think it is important to secure the border between the two countries so we don't return to war another time," he said.
Sudan accuses Juba of supporting rebels of the SPLM-North in the
border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, a claim Western diplomats
find credible despite denials from Juba.
Juba, in turn, accuses Khartoum of frequently bombing its territory, a claim denied by Sudan.
At the end of this month, Sudan and South Sudan are due to resume
talks sponsored by the African Union to solve the border security and
other issues. Previous attempts to set up a demilitarized buffer zone
along the border have failed.
South Sudan has said it wants to resume oil production next month
but would need a year to reach its former output of 350,000 barrels day
after all its wells were turned off in January.
-Reuters