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January 17, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki has failed to convince the delegations from Khartoum and Juba to return to the negotiation table in Addis Ababa and sort their dispute over oil fees.
- Chairman of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) and former South African president Thabo Mbeki (AFP)
South Sudan’s chief negotiator Pagan Amum who is also the Secretary General of the Sudan people Liberation Movement (SPLM) said that Khartoum “poisoned” the negotiation atmosphere.
Amum at a press conference also faulted Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir saying he forsook a “golden opportunity” to solve his country’s economic woes.
According to press reports, South Sudan demanded that its northern neighbor pay an equivalent of 1.4 million barrels of oil to resume talks.
The Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson Al-Obeid Marwih accused Juba of lacking seriousness and revealed that the negotiations that were scheduled to start on Monday have not commenced yet amid attempts by Mbeki to jump-start it.
Marwih said that the Sudanese delegation submitted its position on the service fees South Sudan should pay for using oil infrastructure on its territories and the arrears that have accumulated as a result of non-payment by Juba.
The AUHIP has been mediating for months between the two countries in frantic efforts to bridge differences over the issue of oil transit fees.
Sudan is insisting on a payment of $36 per barrel which South Sudan claims is excessive compared to international norms.
The Sudanese government has started implementing a law it adopted last year allowing the finance ministry to seize goods as a form of payment if the exporter does not pay the required fees.
Amum told Associated Press that Sudan is stealing oil “that would be the equivalent of purchasing two new pipelines a year, every year.” Amum said an oil company on Monday alerted the south’s government of another 750,000 stolen barrels worth $140 million.
(ST)
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