The African Union made a last minute attempt to keep South Sudan’s oil flowing by setting up an investigation body to probe Khartoum’s charges that Juba is supporting its armed opposition.
Sudan announced that on August 7 it will stop exporting South Sudan’s oil if Juba does not stop supporting Sudanese rebels.
South Sudan denies the charges.
The Commission of the AU announced on Monday that it launched an Ad Hoc Investigative Mechanism or AIM into allegations by Sudan and South Sudan, of continued support to and harbouring of armed groups operating against the other state to rescue the cooperation agreements.
Three senior African military officers who form AIM have six weeks to investigate the allegations.
The AU established the AIM together with Ethiopia and Intergovernmental Authority on Development or IGAD in response to a proposal made by former President Thabo Mbeki who chairs the AU High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan and South Sudan.
The AU and IGAD called on both states to cooperate fully and unconditionally with the AIM as it carries out its work to ascertain the facts of these allegations.
On Monday, the AU also launched the Border Programme’s determination of the centerline for the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone between Sudan and South Sudan to address security issues between South Sudan and Sudan.