Sudanese official: Museveni doesn't hide hostility

Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni The Sudanese government is holding intensified diplomatic movements, in response to the comments of a Ugandan military commander, who was quoted saying "Kampala (Uganda' s capital) will not hesitate in offering aid to South Sudan, if the latter is involved in a war with Sudan." These comments were issued after Sudan regained the oil-rich region of Heglig on Friday.
The Sudanese Information Minister's counselor, Dr Rabei Abdelaati Obaid told Arabstoday that his government is well aware of the Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni's plans and it will act soon on the internal, regional and international levels "to expose any  plots designed against Sudan."
"His(Museveni's) plotting against Sudan began back in the early years of the South Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and their rebel activities against the Sudanese government. He doesn't hide his hate and hostility against our country, but he will face the same destiny as the SPLM. We will be friendly with our friends, and we will act with hostility towards our enemies," said Obaid.
In the same context, The Sudanese foreign ministry's under-secretary, Rahmatalla Othman, told the Sudanese newspaper Akher Lahza, that his country has information that proves Kampala ensured aid for South Sudan in the latest southern aggression on Heglig.
"We are documenting our evidence now to submit it to the African Union and the Great Lakes Association, as both organisations have to act against the Ugandan threats and violations towards regional security, in addition to its support for the rebel groups of Darfur who refused to sign the Doha agreement, in contradiction to the Great Lakes Association's decisions," said Othman.
General Aronda Niacairima, a Ugandan army commander, has said earlier his country will not hesitate to ensure aid for South Sudan in case it is involved in an open war with its northern neighbour.
Rahmatalla Othman went on to praise a statement by the European Union which included a firm condemnation of South Sudan's aggression in Heglig, calling  for immediate withdrawal of the Sudan People's Liberaton Army (SPLA)  forces which occupied the border region.
Othman held a meeting with the EU envoy to Sudan, Rosalind Marsden, in which the two parties discussed the recent situation after the South Sudanese withdrawal from Heglig.
Sudanese war planes on Monday launched a fresh bombing raid on Bentiu, capital of the oil-rich South Sudan border state of Unity, killing at least one child, AFP reported.
"This is a serious escalation, and a violation of the territory of South Sudan... I think it is a clear provocation," Mac Paul, the South's deputy director of military intelligence said.
"The bridge and the market were bombed... We are sending teams to investigate how many people died in the attacks."
Bombs targeting a key bridge in the town landed some 50 metres away from an AFP reporter. In the market, stalls were on fire and large plumes of grey smoke rose high into the air, as screaming civilians ran in panic.
One charred body of a small boy was seen by an AFP reporter, while market traders said that three civilians had been killed, although those figures could not be immediately verified.
The attack, the latest of several on the town and in South Sudan's border state, comes as the South's army completes a pullout of the contested Heglig oil field seized from Sudan's army on April 10.
South Sudanese officials said the withdrawal from Heglig had been ordered to avert a return to all-out war, but on Sunday accused Khartoum of air strikes against the departing troops.
South Sudan's army said Sunday that its troops faced fresh aerial bombardments from Sudan as they completed their pullout from the flashpoint Heglig oil field.
Juba seized the oil hub on April 10, claiming that Khartoum was using Heglig as a base to attack the South's oil-producing Unity State. Although South Sudan disputes it, Heglig is internationally regarded as part of Sudan.
The South's occupation met widespread criticism, including from UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who called it illegal.
The Sudanese government meanwhile called for aid from "brotherly and friendly" countries to help Sudan extinguish fires in the disputed Heglig oil field's wells after South Sudanese forces withdrew from the city on Thursday.
Sudan's state information minister, Sanaa Hamad al-Awad, revealed three main sites at Heglig's oil facilities were destroyed by Southern forces before their withdrawal. The first pumping station of the main pipeline, the power generation station, and one of the main fuel depots were reportedly the sites sabotaged. Al-Awad said certain "brother-countries"  had promised to send fire-extinguishing aircraft to help Sudan put out the fires.
Khartoum also claimed to have documents proving that General Teiban Dainag, the mayor of the Southern al-Wehda province, ordered the SPLA (South Sudan's army) officers to destroy Heglig's oil facilities. Minister al-Awad insisted her country would take legal and diplomatic steps to demand Juba "pay compensation for the losses that took place during the South Sudanese occupation of the city".
Al-Awad also revealed that Sudanese forces had found additional bombs that were set to blow up more sites in Heglig. She claimed that the death toll within the SPLA forces was massive, saying Sudan would contact the International Committee of the Red Cross to receive the bodies.
South Sudan's president Salva Kiir declared on Friday he gave orders to his troops to withdraw immediately from the oil-rich border city, while Sudanese president Omar Bashir claimed is army had liberated Heglig by force, saying the Sudanese pipelines will be closed to the oil exports of Sudan's southern neighbour. Kiir is due to meet his Chinese coutnerparts in Beijing this week.
The conflict between the two countries has worried the international community after tensions increased in recent months. The two states were divided and South Sudan become the world's youngest nation after years of conflict based on ethnic, religious and sectarian grounds that killed millions.
However, Juba and Khartoum are yet to decide on issues that even today, threaten to plunge the two states into an all-out war, such as the demarcation of borders and how to distribute the countries' oil facilities. Matters are further complicated by the fact that most of the countries' oil fields are located in the South while Sudan hosts oil production facilities.
US President Obama said late on Friday that “the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan must have the courage to return to the table and negotiate and resolve these issues peacefully.”
“We know what needs to happen — the government of Sudan must stop its military actions, including aerial bombardments,” he said in a videotaped message to the people of the two countries.
“Likewise, the government of South Sudan must end its support for armed groups inside Sudan and it must cease its military actions across the border,” the president added in the address, released by the US State Department.
South Sudan has denied supporting opposition groups in the north.
Ban urged both governments “to resume negotiations immediately” under a mediation effort led by African Union envoy Thabo Mbeki, the former South African president.
Sudan pulled out of those talks after the Heglig invasion.
The African Union (AU), which has for years sought to broker a sustainable peace between the bitter rivals, on Sunday again called for "a complete cessation of all hostilities," and a swift resumption of talks.
Both sides should consider their "responsibility towards their region, the rest of Africa and the larger international community," the AU statement said.
Since the invasion, oil production at Heglig has been shut and facilities there were leaking. Each side accused the other of damaging the oil infrastructure, which accounted for about half of the north's production.