US calls for 'unconditional' Sudan talks
2013-01-25 09:21
New York - The United States on Thursday called on Sudan to
hold "unconditional" talks with rebels battling government forces in
two strife-torn states where the UN says thousands are close to starvation.
US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Khartoum
must negotiate with rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states as part of
moves to achieve "real security".
Top representatives of the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement-North (SPLM-N) have been in Washington and New York in the past week
and have met US officials and British envoys at the UN, diplomats said.
Rice also attacked Sudan for failing to carry out accords
with neighbouring South Sudan to end disputes over oil resources and the
disputed territory of Abyei.
"Real security will only come if Sudan bolsters its
cooperation with South Sudan and addresses the conflict in the two areas [South
Kordofan and Blue Nile] through unconditional dialogue with the
SPLM-North," Rice said.
The SPLM-N took up arms against the Sudan government in the
weeks before South Sudan made its formal break from the north in July 2011.
More than 220 000 people have since fled into South Sudan
and Ethiopia from the two states and the Sudan government has refused to let
the United Nations enter rebel zones in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The United Nations says about 700 000 people face critical
food shortages in the two states.
Rice said "it is crucial that there is outspoken
support in the region for a cessation of hostilities and international
humanitarian access" to South Kordofan and Blue Nile. This should have
been given under an accord with the UN and African Union.
Conflicts
The US ambassador said Sudan must also end restrictions on
UN access to Darfur, the western region where a decade-old conflict has left
more than 300 000 dead, according to UN figures, and where violence is flaring
again.
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan's leader
Salva Kiir are scheduled to meet in Addis Ababa on Friday in a new bid to
revive oil, security and border deals.
Tensions between the two have been exacerbated by Sudan's
accusations that the South backs the SPLM-N. South Sudan says Khartoum is
attacking it directly and backing insurgents on its territory.
It will be the second time this month the two sides have
held talks mediated by the African Union, which is to hold a summit from Sunday
at which the conflicts are expected to be a major topic.
The two Sudans are at loggerheads over the territory of
Abyei, which was left undecided when they split. They are also in a dispute
over revenues from oil that comes mainly from the south but is transported
through Sudan.
The two presidents signed an accord in September 2012 to
pave the way for renewed oil production.
But Rice said "Sudan's refusal to implement the
September 27 agreements is counterproductive - blocking the very measures
intended to guarantee the transparency and security of the border and denying
both countries the oil revenue they badly need."
- SAPA
