Sudan, South Sudan Resume Border Talks

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Rival Sudan and the newly independent South Sudan are expected to resume talks in Ethiopia on the disputed border region on Tuesday, to clear the stalemate and resume oil exports.

The latest round of the African Union –mediated talks comes after the two foe states agreed on provisional oil transit fees last month, but Sudan wants a border security deal struck first before resumption of oil production.

Fighting along the disputed border threatened an all-out war between the two neighbour states in April when south Sudan seized an oil-rich region held by Sudan.

Earlier in January the South shut down its production in a row with the north over oil transit fees, accusing Khartoum of stealing its oil and imposing deceitful transit fees. The south took most of the oilfields when it seceded but needs the north’s pipeline to transport its crude to harbours in the north for export.

The talks chaired by former South African leader Thabo Mbeki are expected to put oil agreements in its final form which then will require ultimate pact from both presidents in a summit.

The two Sudans are expected to approach the talks more objectively than before, with an aim to salvage the oil revenue which both sides need badly to kick-start their ailing economies. Both sides have shown interest in the upcoming in resolving much of the outstanding issues that remain unresolved since South’s breakaway.

"Sudan's delegation is ready to reach an agreement by the end of this round," El-Obeid Morawah, spokesperson for Sudan's Foreign Ministry, said, adding that he expects their South Sudanese counterparts to be “open-minded and open-hearted.”

Head of South Sudan’s border committee Michael Makuei Lueth has expressed optimism in resolving much of the outstanding issues which will pave way for the final deal on the possible demarcation of the 1800km border.

 "If the government of Sudan is coming to negotiate in good faith, then we are likely to agree on everything except the borders that will follow at a later stage," he said.

Mediators are calling for set up of a demilitarised 10-km-wide buffer border zone that will ensure neither sides is supporting armed groups across the border, demanding also resumption of  normal trade and travel between the two.

South Sudan became independent in July last year following an overwhelming vote  in favour  of the secession in a referendum earlier that year, that was part of the 2005 peace pact that ended decades of north-south civil war.

 Disagreement over a possible border demarcation and sharing of oil resources still remain unsettled as both sides accuse each other of double standards, pitting in a stand-off that has seen both sides face soaring inflation and shortages of foreign currency.

 Johannesburg, South Africa

Court Frees Held Miners, as Unrest Spread

A South African court has freed 50 mineworkers after dropping murder charges against them, relating to last month’s death of 34 miners shot by police.

34 miners at Lonmin platinum mines in Marikana near the capital, Pretoria, were gunned down on August 16 by the police after workers at the British-owned mine went on strike demanding higher pay.

The prosecution announced Sunday that it had suspended the murder charges against the 270 mineworkers held for the killing of their colleagues by the police, until outcome of an inquiry into the events that led to the deaths.

The miners will be released in batches with no bail requirements, although they are expected back in court in February next year to face charges of public violence and illegal gathering.

 Their release comes after a wide public outcry and condemnation of the charges that are leveled under a controversial apartheid-era law, to accuse the mineworkers of provoking police to open fire. The charges has attracted speculations that the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) being under political influence to level such charges.

 The Marikana event which has been largely blamed on rivalry between two workers unions that had been simmering since January and violent clashes between rival groups at the mine on August 10 left ten people including two police officers dead.

 Police said they opened fire on the strikers at Marikana after being threatened by a crowd of protesters who advanced towards them, armed with machetes.The mine remains shut for three weeks now as talks to resolve the dispute continue.

 Elsewhere, the mineworkers’ unrest continues to spread after violent sacked workers at a gold mine in east of Johannesburg tried to block their reinstated colleagues from working.

 Police say four people were wounded after police and security guards at the Gold Fields mine fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the group of part of the 12,000 workers at the mine who the company says "continue to engage in an unlawful and unprotected strike" that began on Wednesday.

The miners are said to be involved in long-running pay tussle with the company run by Gold One International, but the company blames the strike on rivalry between the officially recognised mineworkers' union, which is facing a challenge from a more radical new union.