Sudan against holding talks with Juba over oil

Khartoum, April 21 (IANS) Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has vowed neither to hold any talks with South Sudan over the oil issue nor allow the latter to transport oil through Sudanese territory, media reported Saturday.

"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, capital city of South Sudan, 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.

Al-Bashir announced earlier Friday that the Sudanese army had retaken the Heglig region by force and troops from South Sudan had fled the battle field. However, South Sudan said it had ordered its army to immediately withdraw from Heglig.

The African Union quickly declared South Sudan's behaviour "illegal" and demanded that it "immediately and unconditionally" withdraws its troops from the region.

The Sudanese president Wednesday declared war on South Sudan, and vowed to bring down the government in Juba.