Blast breaches pipeline in Abyei – Sudan government, rebels blame each other

The Sudanese government and rebels have accused each other of blowing-up a pipeline last night in the disputed region of Abyei bordering South Sudan. The explosion took place in the Ragaba area within the territory at around 10:30pm. The ensuing fire raged for hours. Shadia Arabi, spokeswoman for the Sudan Ministry of Petroleum, confirmed that a pipeline was cut somewhere between Diffra and Heglig. This stretch is not the main north-south line but rather a tie-in line running from east to west. The damaged pipeline is operated by Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, which is owned by a consortium of Chinese, Malaysian, Indian and Sudanese companies. Sudanese Petroleum Minister Awad Al Jazz likewise confirmed the attack in remarks to the private television station Al Shorouq. He downplayed the event, however, saying the impact would be limited. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) was blamed for the explosion by army spokesman Colonel Al Sawarmi Khaled, according to remarks carried by state media on Thursday night. He said the saboteurs “came from Unity State in South Sudan”. Col Al Sawarmi alleged that “the rebels received technical support from the army of South Sudan in order to carry out the attack,” identifying the location of the blast as Ajaja in northern Abyei. However, this was sharply denied by JEM spokesman Jibril Adam Bilal. He denied any link between his movement and the government of South Sudan and he added that there were “no JEM forces present in the Abyei area”. Bilal suggested that the political situation has been embarrassing for President Omar Al Bashir since he ordered the shutdown of oil exports from South Sudan last Sunday, and that the president found himself in a critical position owing to international and domestic criticism of his decision. Bilal elaborated that the government “needed to find a way to escape from this political dilemma, insinuating that the government itself set-off the blast in order to distract from this embarrassment”. The rebel spokesman noted, however, that they considered the oil fields to be legitimate targets as government petroleum revenues were being used for military purposes “to kill citizens in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan”. Earlier today, a close aide to the president and deputy chairman of the ruling National Congress Party, Nafie Ali Nafie addressed the Khartoum State Parliament announcing that a rebel coalition plans to attack the capital from two directions. Nafie claimed the rebels are assembling their forces in the Abu Karshola area of South Kordofan. Nafie said that the rebels are planning to seize two or three big cities, namely Kadugli, El Obeid, and El Fasher, but he ruled out the last owing to the weak presence of the insurgency there. He asserted that the rebels “are dreaming of a scenario like what happened in Egypt or Libya,” and reiterated that “the rebels are receiving material support and moral encouragement from South Sudan as well as overseas”. Reporting by Radio Tamazuj and Radio DabangaMap: The oil fields of Abyei