Bashir Halts South Sudan Oil Flow

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday ordered a halt to the flow of oil from South Sudan, less than two months after southern crude began moving again, official radio said.

"Bashir ordered the minister of oil to stop the flow of South Sudanese oil from tomorrow, Sunday," Radio Omdurman reported in an SMS message which gave no further details.

The official SUNA news agency issued a similar report, saying Bashir called for the oil pipeline to be "shut down" from Sunday.

The oil, which has not yet reached Sudan's Red Sea export terminal, would be worth billions of dollars in revenue to both impoverished nations if exports resumed.

Bashir had warned on May 27 that he would block the oil if the South's government provides assistance to rebels fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, or in the Darfur region.

Bashir threatened to "completely close the pipeline".

Juba denies supporting the rebels.

South Sudan held a ceremony in early April to restart oil production following a closure of more than a year after accusing Khartoum of theft in a row over export fees.

China was the biggest buyer of the oil.

South Sudan split from Sudan in July 2011, following a referendum vote for independence under a peace deal that ended a 22-year civil war.

Independence left key issues unresolved, including how much the South should pay for shipping its oil through Sudan's export infrastructure.

Rising tensions led to intermittent border clashes.

Last September the two nations agreed to resume oil exports and implement eight other agreements but they did not take effect as Khartoum pushed for guarantees that South Sudan would no longer back the rebels.

In March, Juba and Khartoum finally agreed on detailed timetables to set all the deals in motion.

They allowed for a free flow of people and goods across the border, and established a demilitarized buffer zone along the undemarcated and disputed frontier between the two nations.

The buffer zone aims to cut cross-border rebel infiltration.

South Sudan has also accused Khartoum of backing insurgents on its territory.

Bashir's late-May threat to close the oil pipeline came at a ceremony following the army's recapture of Abu Kershola in the far north of South Kordofan state.

Rebels held Abu Kershola for a month after seizing it during a coordinated attack on several areas including the strategic and previously peaceful town of Umm Rawaba in North Kordofan.

Analysts called the attack a humiliation for the authorities.

After Bashir's threat, South Sudan said it was committed to the peace deals.

"We agreed that there is a new environment of dialogue... We don't want to go back to square one," Juba Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said, criticizing Bashir for his public threats.

"There are channels to discuss this; we don't think that you should go on a public forum and say all these things."