Sudan secession turning point in foreign relations

The secession of South Sudan is "a turning point" in Sudan's foreign relations, said Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Kerti on Monday. Addressing the Sudanese parliament, Kerti said that tension between Sudan and South Sudan since the secession of the latter in 2011 was due to the delay in reaching accords on the pending issues between the two countries, particularly the issues related to the border demarcation and oil revenues, as well as rebel groups in both countries Kerti, however, stressed that Sudan aims to share relations based on cooperation with the newly founded neighbour. Sudan and South Sudan have signed a comprehensive cooperation accord in Addis Ababa last month, to end months of tension and sometimes military confrontation over border disputes. However, this accord didn't tackle the issue of the conflict over Abyei, an oil-rich area that both countries claim to own. The Foreign Minister went on to say that his country has succeeded in keeping friendly relations with major Arab countries, like Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, in addition to sharing good relations with its close neighbours: Ethiopia, Eritrea Chad and Somalia. Kerti also hailed Sudan's relations with major Asian countries like Japan, China, Malaysia, Pakistan, India and Indonesia. Kerti accused the United States of attempting to cripple reaching full peace between Sudan and South Sudan by pushing the southern country to adopt extreme stances in the negotiations, and by inciting some African countries exert various sorts of pressure on the Sudanese government.