Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Sudan is seeking the intervention the African Union (AU) and Ethiopia to pressure South Sudan to withdraw from Heglig, even as pressure mounts on the Sudanese government to react militarily to the occupation, a senior Sudanese official said Wednesday.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan el-Bashir has sent his adviser, Dr Mustafa Ousman, to Addis Ababa on a high level mission to ratchet up pressure on South Sudan to withdraw from Heglig, which the South’s army invaded on 10 April.

“Sudan responds to it (the invasion) patiently although we are under huge pressure from the public to liberate Heglig with any means possible,” Dr. Ousman told journalists in the Ethiopia capital.

He met AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping, Peace and Security Council Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zeawi as well as AU’s chief Sudanese mediator Thabo Mbeki earlier in the day.

Dr. Ousman said Khartoum sent him to ask the personalities to put pressure on the South to withdraw from Heglig, which he said is never a disputed territory, immediately and unconditionally.

His mission is part of Sudan’s appeal for international pressure on the South, he said.

The Special Adviser said Khartoum’s further action would depend on the kind of pressure being exerted by the international community on South Sudan, the reaction of the South and the extent to which Khartoum can contain public anger and request for a military action. He did not give a deadline.

Dr, Ousman also accused Juba of arming Sudanese rebels from Darfur and not disarming its militias in the Blue Nile region and Nuba mountains, while Khartoum has kept its commitment to the deal that ended their long war and led to the independence of the South.   

Pana 18/04/2012