UN: Sudans locked in a logic of war

UNITED NATIONS - Agence France-Presse

Sudan has responded with fierce aerial bombardment of the town.

African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki urged the U.N. Security Council on April 17 to take action to stop the fighting between Sudan and South Sudan, warning that both sides are locked in a “logic of war” with hardliners increasingly in control.

Security Council members promised to urgently discuss how to address the crisis, including the possibility of sanctions, said U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, the current Security Council president. Mbeki, along with Haile Menkerios, a special U.N. representative to Sudan, “described a disturbing situation in which both sides are locked in, and I quote, ‘a logic of war,’” Rice said.

“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.” A border conflict between Sudan and South Sudan escalated when the South seized the disputed oil town of Heglig.

Sudan has responded with fierce aerial bombardment of the town. The fighting is the bloodiest since South Sudan broke away from Sudan last July and became the world’s newest nation. The crisis threatens to widen into all-out war.