Sudan and South Sudan are facing the threat of United Nations sanctions if they fail to stop fighting along their disputed frontier in the Horn of Africa.
A unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution, which condemns the surge of border violence, orders the two Sudans to cease hostilities within two days and resume negotiations within two weeks.
The U.N. resolution endorses an African Union road map it hopes will avert a return to war.
Usually reluctant to approve such texts, Russia and China both signed up, reflecting the growing international concern over the crisis. China, which buys much of the oil from the disputed region, is considered particularly influential.
The African Union asked the U.N. Security Council to pass a legally binding ultimatum, obliging Sudan and South Sudan to comply with a peace plan to end hostilities. It also calls on them to withdraw their troops from disputed zones and settle all outstanding disputes — including oil revenues, the demarcation of borders and contested oil-rich zones, and support for rival proxy rebels.
Recent Clashes
Sudan and South Sudan regularly trade accusations that each supports the other's militia allies.
The two Sudans have three months to work through their unresolved problems. Both have agreed to sit down and restart negotiations, yet both Sudan and South Sudan claim the other is not interested in genuine peace or dialogue.
Clashes flared up last month after South Sudanese forces occupied Heglig, a large oil field that was under the control of Sudan.
The African Union, the U.N. Security Council, the White House and others called on South Sudan to pull out its troops, which South Sudan says it did.
Sudan says there was no withdrawal and that it chased the southern soldiers out of Heglig.
South Sudan, where two-thirds of the region's oil fields are located, shut down all crude oil production in January, accusing Sudan of charging outrageous fees for use of its pipeline and confiscating cargoes of crude.
Sudan says the South is offering a fee it considers far too small and had stopped paying for the crude to be transported for export from Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
The South argues that it entered Heglig to stop repeated deadly Sudanese airstrikes on its territory.
'It's My Land'
On Thursday, South Sudan accused Sudan of renewed air attacks on the South. There has also been global condemnation of Sudan's aerial bombardments and the North had been told to stop them.
In the South's capital, Juba, about 200 marchers took to the streets on Wednesday as part of a rally organized by Christian churches.
To loud cheers and ululations, one of the rally's organizers, Prophet Abraham Chol, angrily told the crowd the U.N., the U.S. and the African Union made a wrong move by telling South Sudan to pull out of Heglig.
"We reject the decision by the international community, which even America is a part of, to withdraw our army from Heglig," he said.
He says the international community's decision is unjust.
The demonstrators also shouted "Down With al-Bashir," a reference to Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
Student marcher Gloria Emmanuel angrily denounced the Sudanese leader.
"Al-Bashir is just a criminal," she said. "He is just taking our petrol, our oil, our land — by force. ... It's my land, it's my territory, and I can't give it up for anyone in this world. I'll fight until I get my rights."
Where Is The Era Of Peace?
It has been seven years since the end of the long civil war between the North and South, and less than a year since South Sudan declared independence and split from Sudan.
That landmark was supposed to herald a new era of peace and cooperation. But many feel that critical, unresolved quarrels have brought the two Sudans to the brink of war.
The rally stopped at the U.S. Embassy in Juba, where marchers handed a petition to the deputy chief of mission, Christopher Datta.
He said the U.S. congratulated the government of South Sudan for accepting the African Union's road map for peace. He added that the conflict between the neighbors "has dragged on long enough and it's time there is a settlement on the border and a settlement on other issues."
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