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Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — South Sudan’s government and rebels
said they were optimistic they could negotiate an end to a
three-week-old conflict that the United Nations says has killed
thousands of people and forced 200,000 to flee their homes.
Talks resume today in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa,
to end the violence that has shaken the world’s newest nation.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said yesterday he was “ready
to directly engage†the warring parties to end fighting between
President Salva Kiir’s government and insurgents loyal to former
Vice President Riek Machar.
“We believe we can achieve full reconciliation,†the
rebels’ chief negotiator, Taban Deng Gai, said at a press
conference in Addis Ababa. South Sudan’s information minister,
Michael Makuei, said: “We have come for peace and we will go
back to our people with peace.â€
Conflict broke out on Dec. 15 after Kiir accused Machar of
trying to stage a coup, a charge Machar denies. The violence has
pitted members of Kiir’s ethnic Dinka community against Machar’s
Nuer group. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July
2011 following a two-decade civil war with the north.
Landlocked South Sudan has sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil
reserves after Nigeria and Angola, according to BP Plc data. It
has been exporting all of its crude — about 245,000 barrels a
day — through pipelines across Sudan. The fighting has cut
output to about 200,000 barrels daily. Oil exports provide more
than 95 percent of government revenue.
Chinese Companies
Some oil companies including China National Petroleum Corp.
and India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp. have temporarily evacuated
employees from South Sudan.
Sudan has agreed to send 900 technicians to southern oil
fields and “there are intentions†to deploy Sudanese and South
Sudanese forces to protect “all oil and border areas,†Sudan’s
foreign minister, Ali Karti, said yesterday in Khartoum after
returning from a visit to South Sudan with Sudanese President
Umar al-Bashir.
The negotiations in Addis Ababa will discuss an end to the
fighting and the fate of politicians imprisoned by the
government following the outbreak of fighting, Ethiopian envoy
Seyoum Mesfin said at the press conference. The two sides agreed
on a framework for the talks yesterday, he said.
Efforts to mediate a truce are being led by the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development, made up of seven
East African nations including Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan. The
group said late yesterday that the two sides have shown
appreciation of “the gravity of the situation and the need and
urgency of resolving the crisis.â€
Freeing Detainees
The South Sudanese government said Jan. 5 it rejected
international pressure to release politicians detained after the
alleged attempted coup.
The U.S. and the European Union said Jan. 4 that 11
politicians imprisoned in South Sudan should be freed to help
the warring parties reach a cease-fire and a political solution.
Those detained without charge include Pagan Amum, former
secretary-general of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement. Kiir fired his cabinet in July, including Machar, who
said he planned to seek the leadership of the ruling party.
Machar was one of the leaders of a faction that split from other
southern rebels during decades of civil war with the government
in Khartoum.
During his visit to Juba, Sudanese leader al-Bashir called
for the restoration of peace. The authorities in Khartoum won’t
support rebel groups in the south, he said.
The UN has urged both sides to avoid civilian casualties,
and called on donors to help aid agencies raise $166 million for
humanitarian programs. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told
reporters in Jerusalem on Jan. 5 that the start of direct talks
was a “very important step†and urged officials to approach
them with “resolve.â€
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