Security council demands Sudan, S Sudan to end violence

The UN Security Council has demanded that Sudan and South Sudan end border hostilities, saying it was “a serious threat to international peace and security.” The statement came as an answer to the two states’ complains about each other. “The Security Council demands that all parties cease military operations in the border areas and put an end to the cycle of violence,” the Council’s president, Mark Lyall Grant of the United Kingdom said in a statement. The president also said that both sides should refrain from actions “that would undermine the security and stability of the other, including through any direct or indirect form of support to armed groups in the other’s territory.” “The Security Council condemns actions by any armed group aimed at the forced overthrow of the Government of either Sudan or South Sudan,” the statement reads. South Sudan won independence in July 2011 in a referendum that came as part of a peace deal to end decades of civil war. However, fighting still rages in disputed territory along the border with Sudan. The two countries have also been unable to agree transit payments for South Sudan oil shipped on a pipeline through Sudan, leading authorities in Juba, the South Sudan capital, to suspend oil production until an alternative route is found. Production has been halted at more than 300 wells and reduced at 600 more. South Sudan accused Sudan of bombing an oil well last week, an accusation which Sudan strongly denied. The two governments met in Ethiopia on Tuesday for oil transit fee discussions.