AFRICA/SOUTH SUDAN - Sudanese Parliament declares: "South Sudan is our enemy," while bombing continues

Juba (Agenzia Fides) - The tension between Sudan and South Sudan, whose troops continue to occupy the area of Heglig, claimed by both countries, remains high. A spokesman of South Sudanese army (SPLA) announced that on April 16, the military in Juba shot down a Sudanese fighter Mig29 above Heglig.
The air force of Khartoum is accused of having bombed several places: besides Heglig (where according to the south Sudanese the local oil facilities were seriously damaged), Bentiu, southern Sudan oil area, and a refugee camp managed by the UN near Mayom, in the South Sudanese State of Unity. According to the authorities of Juba, in these two air strikes at least nine civilians were killed, including a pregnant woman, and there were another 22 wounded.
Tension is fueled even more due to the resolution passed by Parliament in Khartoum that qualifies as an "enemy" the government of South Sudan while the MPs urge to put an end to the power of the SPLM (the former rebel movement that governs South Sudan). "We see the government of South Sudan as an enemy and the Sudanese state institutions must treat it as such," reads the text of the resolution. " We declare that we will confront the [Sudan People Liberation Movement] SPLM until we end its rule of the South, and will work to gather our resources to realize this aim," al-Taher said.
The resolution, which appears as a declaration of war, does not know what value it can have legally, since, according to the Constitution, only the President has the power to declare hostilities. Its approval, however, reflects the tension among the institutional leaders in Khartoum for the loss of Heglig. In fact, in these places most of the oil resources, left to Khartoum, are concentrated, after the secession of the South
The authorities in Juba have replied by saying that they do not consider Sudan as an enemy. The southern Sudanese have also insisted that their troops will abandon Heglig only when Sudan stops the aerial bombardment and evacuates Abyei, another contested border area, rich in oil. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 17/4/2012)