20120403
AFP
Senior officials from Sudan and South Sudan met Monday for the first face-to-face talks since heavy fighting between their armies broke out last week in disputed oil-rich border regions.

As senior envoys met in Ethiopia, US President Barack Obama called US-backed South Sudan President Salva Kiir to urge restraint.

Bloody clashes including airstrikes, tanks and heavy artillery -- the worst violence since South Sudan's independence in July -- had raised international concerns the former civil war foes could return to all-out war.

Sudanese Defence Minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein, who met his southern counterpart John Kong Nyuon with their respective delegations, said he hoped the meeting would result in a signed deal.

"We agreed that this tension between the two countries should be released," Hussein said.

Southern Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said talks were ongoing, but added claims that Khartoum was "still bombing" border areas in the South.

"South Sudan is determined to ensure a return to war is avoided and to peacefully resolve the outstanding issues," he told reporters in Nairobi.

"It is time to leave the path of confrontation and war, and walk the path of peace in the interest of the people of Sudan and South Sudan."

A White House statement said that in his phone call, Obama "expressed concern about the growing tensions" between the two nations including border clashes and bloodshed in Sudan's Southern Kordofan state.

"President Obama underscored the importance of avoiding unilateral actions, and asked President Kiir to ensure that South Sudan's military exercises maximum restraint and is not involved in or supporting fighting along the border, particularly in Southern Kordofan," it said.

Delegations from both countries were in the Ethiopian capital for crisis talks that were stalled after both sides accused each other of initiating the clashes.

Sudan's army late Sunday claimed South Sudanese forces launched another push into the Heglig oil region -- a disputed area controlled by Khartoum -- accusations denied by Juba.

Tensions remain high between their armies along the border, and both sides have traded furious rhetoric.

"It is very clear that the aggression is from their side," said Badreldin Abdalla, a senior official at Sudan's foreign ministry attending the talks, adding that Khartoum was "committed to peace."

"Sudan's government is not for war, it is not for conflict again," Abdalla said ahead of Monday's meeting.

Juba's chief negotiator Pagan Amum on Sunday accused the north of "waging war" and said Khartoum was planning fresh attacks.

However, Amum was seen to greet Sudanese officials warmly before the meeting began, shaking the hands of officials from Khartoum.

The disputed border between the two countries is undemarcated, and tensions along the frontier have mounted since South Sudan separated after an overwhelming independence vote, following Africa's longest war.

Talks were scheduled to take place Saturday, but Juba said negotiations were delayed because Sudan failed to send their defence minister, who arrived in Addis Ababa Monday.

Last week's clashes prompted Khartoum to call off an April 3 summit in Juba between President Omar al-Bashir and the South's Salva Kiir.

Analysts said there were elements in Khartoum, as well as the South, opposed to recent moves towards warmer relations between the two countries and suggested last week's flare-up over Heglig was an effort to sabotage a rapprochement.