U.S. envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice said on Tuesday that the 15-member U.N. Security Council (UNSC) was in the process of considering a slew of measures, including possible sanctions, to pressurize Sudan and South Sudan to end their ongoing conflict.
Current UNSC President, Rice told reporters that African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki and U.N. envoy Haile Menkerios briefed the UNSC on the deteriorating situation along the border separating Sudan and South Sudan, and urged the Council to act swiftly to resolve the crisis.
She said Mbeki and Menkerios "described a disturbing situation in which both sides are locked in, and I quote, 'a logic of war'", and added: "They stressed that hardliners are winning the day in both Juba and Khartoum and urged the Security Council to engage with both governments directly to convince them to walk back their positions."
She said UNSC reiterated its call for a "complete, immediate, unconditional" end to all fighting during Tuesday's session. The Council also urged South Sudan to withdraw its forces from the Heglig oilfield in Sudan and called on Khartoum to stop air strikes on South Sudanese territory.
"Council members discussed ways to leverage the influence of the Council to press the parties to take these steps, and included in that a discussion potentially of sanctions. Members expressed grave concern over the situation and committed to make every effort to convince the parties to cease hostilities and return to the negotiating table," she added.
A day earlier, lawmakers in Khartoum had voted unanimously to brand South Sudan as an "enemy" state, following the capture of the Heglig oilfield by South Sudanese troops last week amid heavy fighting along their shared border.
Sudan also pledged to use "all legitimate means" to recapture the oil field and warned of "destruction" in the South. Further, Khartoum withdrew from negotiations with the South and lodged separate complaints about South Sudan's "aggression" with the United Nations as well as the African Union.
Although most of the international community had earlier appealed to South Sudan to pull back its troops from Heglig, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir said last Thursday that his government would not withdraw troops from the oilfield and insisted that the military moves against Sudan were purely in self defense.
Border clashes between Sudan and South Sudan erupted late last month, marking the biggest confrontation between the two sides after South Sudan seceded from Sudan in July last in line with a 2005 peace agreement ending 22 years of civil war between the Arab North and the Christian and animist South.
Since then, the border region between the two countries has been the scene of frequent clashes between several former southern rebel groups and forces loyal to the North Sudanese government in Khartoum. Both nation's accuse each other of supporting rebels in their territory.
Continued hostilities along the border region have raised fears it might escalate into a full-fledged war. They have also cast doubts on the future of talks being facilitated by the AU High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to resolve outstanding post-secession issues.
South Sudan had gained control of nearly 75 percent of Sudan's oil production with a daily output of around 500,000 barrels when they declared independence on July 9 last year. The two nations are yet to settle disputes over oil transit fees. Both countries are heavily dependent on oil revenues.
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