Church groups express concern over escalating Sudan conflict; Sudan says about 40,000 bpd of oil lost from Heglig; Sudan leader vows to ‘free’ South; Sudan and South Sudan teeter on the edge of war; Southern Sudanese fear forced repatriation; Peace and cattle in South Sudan
Church groups express concern over escalating Sudan conflict
ENI – Reacting to some of the worst fighting between Sudan and South Sudan since the southern country achieved independence last July, two international church groups on April 17 expressed “grave concern” and called for an immediate ceasefire.
http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2012/4/18/Church-groups-express-concern-over-escalating-Sudan-conflict
Sudan says about 40,000 bpd of oil lost from Heglig
Reuters – Sudan has lost about 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude output – roughly a third of its total production – after South Sudan took control of the oil-producing Heglig border region, an oil official told Reuters on Wednesday.
Officials have previously said production at the vital Heglig oilfield had stopped after the South seized the area in escalating border clashes last week, but had not given figures.
http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE83I01420120419
Sudan leader vows to ‘free’ South
BBC – Sudan’s president says his goal is to liberate South Sudan’s people from their government, as fears grow of an all-out war between the two countries.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17761949
Sudan and South Sudan teeter on the edge of war
LA Times – Sudan and South Sudan teetered dangerously on the edge of war Thursday after South Sudan refused to withdraw its troops from a disputed border area despite calls to do so by the United Nations and African Union. Sudan, furious about South Sudan’s seizure a day earlier of its most important oil field in the town of Heglig, bombed a bridge outside the South Sudan oil town of Bentiu, killing one civilian and wounding four, officials said. The fighting between the two nations was the worst since South Sudan seceded from the north inJuly after an independence referendum. The deepening conflict threatens to dash peace talks to unravel the tangle of disputes between the two neighbors, which engaged in 21 years of civil war ending in 2005. With much of the region’s oil in South Sudan and the only pipeline to transport it to the coast routed through Sudan, the two countries have been at loggerheads over how to split the oil revenue, how much South Sudan should pay in oil transit fees and how the border should be drawn. Efforts to resolve the differences have all but collapsed, with Sudan withdrawing from the peace talks Wednesday.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/04/sudan-south-sudan-teeter-on-the-edge-of-war.html
Southern Sudanese fear forced repatriation
Christian Today – Christians from South Sudan who had until Easter Sunday April 8 to try to become citizens of Sudan or be deported, fear authorities will use the occasion to rid the country of Christianity, church leaders said. According to a story by Compass Direct News, more than 500,000 citizens of southern ethnic origin who have been living in Sudan for decades – some of them born there – will be considered foreigners after Sunday. Human rights organisations have called on Khartoum to grant them more time to either leave, or apply for citizenship.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/southern.sudanese.fear.forced.repatriation/29633.htm
Peace and cattle in South Sudan
Christian Today – When the South Sudan gained its independence last July, the largely Christian nation turned its back on decades of painful conflict with the predominantly Muslim North and looked forward with optimism to a new and bright future. Yet there is a growing internal conflict that threatens to cast a shadow over the world’s newest country and derail its development at the very moment it could be taking the greatest strides. “The problem here isn’t that Muslims are killing Christians or Christians are killing Muslims. It is that Christians are killing Christians,” says Brian Stiller, Global Ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance.Cattle raids, the kidnap of women and children,and a spate of killings have hit Jonglei State as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights. An estimated 3,000 people have been killed in fighting between the Murle, Lou Nuer and Dinka Bor tribes in recent months.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/peace.and.cattle.in.south.sudan/29638.htm