Africa faces first inter-state war in decades as Sudan conflict escalates

Sudan president Omar Hassan al-Bashir has all but declared war against his newly independent neighbour, vowing to teach South Sudan a “final lesson by force” after it occupied a disputed oilfield.

South Sudan accused Mr Bashir of planning “genocide” and said it would resist.

Mounting violence since Sudan split into two last year has raised the first war between tow African states since Ethiopia fought newly-independent Eritrea in 1998-2000.

Both are poor countries and the dispute has already halted nearly all the oil production that underpins both economies.

Appearing yesterday in military uniform at a rally, Mr Bashir danced, waved his walking stick and made blistering threats against the leadership of the South, which seceded last year after decades of civil war.

“These people don’t understand, and we will give them the final lesson by force,” he told the rally in El-Obeid, capital of North Kordofan state. “We will not give them an inch of our country, and whoever extends his hand on Sudan, we will cut it off.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said South Sudan’s seizure of the oilfield was an “illegal act” and called for a ceasefire.

South Sudan separated from the rest of Sudan with Mr Bashir’s blessing last July under the terms of a 2005 peace deal. But since then violence has steadily escalated, fuelled by territorial disputes, ethnic animosity and quarrels over oil.

Last week, South Sudan seized Heglig, a disputed oilfield near the border, saying it would only withdraw if the United Nations deployed a neutral force there.

Sudan’s armed forces spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid said by phone the army was now fighting “inside Heglig.”

In a sign of the conflict widening, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) – a Darfur based militia – claimed it had launched an assault on the al-Kharsana oil region near Heglig.

“We are surrounding the Sudanese army in the main military base in al-Kharsana,” Jem spokesman Gibreel Adam Bilal said. Heglig is hundreds of miles away from Jem’s bases in Darfur but the group has fought in Kordofan in the past.

Bashir’s address to the rally yesterday followed a fiery speech on Wednesday, when he vowed to “liberate” South Sudan from its ruling party, which he repeatedly referred to as “insects”, in a play on its Arabic name.

South Sudan’s information minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said: “Mr President, we are no insects and if you are launching your genocide activities to the Republic of South Sudan to kill the people of South Sudan … we can assure you we will protect the lives of our citizens.”

However, he also said South Sudan was willing to resume talks on all outstanding issues.