Khartoum: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said on Saturday he would neither hold any talks with South Sudan over the oil issue nor allow the latter to transport oil through Sudanese territory, an Indian news agency reported.
“We will no longer allow South Sudan’s oil to pass through, even if they split the oil revenues with us,” reported Xinhua citing reports.
Al-Bashir was addressing a mass rally Friday evening in the capital city of Khartoum to celebrate the “liberation” of the Heglig oil field.
He said Juba (South Sudan’s capital) would only “use the oil revenues to destroy Sudan and to finance the criminals in Sudan”.
The door for talks with South Sudan on the oil issue had been closed, he added.
According to reports, the Sudanese government has set up a panel of experts to assess the losses in Heglig oil field, to submit a report to the UN Security Council to make South Sudan pay for it.
The seizure of Heglig by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) April 10 led to suspension of the negotiations between Khartoum and Juba on outstanding issues between them.
The oil field was damaged and looted after it was seized by the South Sudanese army, said reports.
The African Union quickly declared South Sudan’s behaviour “illegal” and demanded that it “immediately and unconditionally” withdraws its troops from the region.
Earlier, the Sudanese president on Wednesday declared war on South Sudan, and vowed to bring down the government in Juba.
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