Sudan blocks South's oil shipment

Port Sudan (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192589.html

Sudan has prevented a shipment of oil produced in South Sudan from leaving port after Juba refused to pay customs fees, escalating tensions between the neighbors.

"Sudan has blocked the ship in Port Sudan... When the ship leaves the port, the South has to pay the customs authorities. This is the first time they didn't pay," Sudan Foreign Ministry spokesman Al-Obeid Meruh was quoted by AFP as saying on Friday.

The spokesperson earlier said Juba had refused to pay the north's fees for the use of its oil infrastructure, such as its pipeline, and therefore the cargo of 600,000 barrels had been blocked.

Meruh went on to say that Sudan and South Sudan have not reached an agreement about the transit fees, adding that Khartoum is asking for $32 per barrel.

South Sudan says other states charge a fee of $1.8 per barrel for providing the same facilities, urging the north to consider international standards in setting the fees.

The event intensifies a row between the neighbors in which Juba accuses Khartoum of making efforts to impede its economic growth.

"They want to stop the shipment so that it prolongs the whole [negotiating] process. Khartoum is trying to sabotage the economy of South Sudan," said David Loro, undersecretary for South Sudan's Ministry of Energy and Mines.

Loro added that a southern committee is holding negotiations with Sudanese authorities in Khartoum over the issue of transit fees.

The landlocked South has to use the north's infrastructure to pump oil, which according to the World Bank, accounts for nearly 95 percent of its total revenue.

South Sudan becomes independent

Citizens of the new country celebrate independence of the South Sudan at midnight in the capital Juba, July 9, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/188209.html

South Sudan has become independent, making it Africa's newest nation and the world's newest country.

South Sudan became independent several minutes ago, shortly after midnight local time on July 9.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Sudanese President Omar Bashir, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Yehia al-Gamal, and other prominent political figures travelled to the South Sudan capital Juba on Friday to attend the independence ceremony of the new Republic of South Sudan.

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, and the head of the US military's Africa Command, Gen Carter Ham were also in Juba for the independence day celebrations.

President Bashir, who forged the 2005 peace deal with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), expressed readiness to work with the “Southern brothers and help them set up their state so that, God willing, this state will be stable and develop.”

“The cooperation between us will be excellent, particularly when it comes to marking and preserving the border so there is a movement of citizens and goods via this border,” he said.

South Sudan becomes the 193rd country recognized by the United Nations and the 54th UN member state in Africa.

Joyful residents of the new nation banged on jerry cans and chanted the name of the world's newest president, Salva Kiir, the Associated Press reported.

“We are brothers and sisters who suffered for a long time, and that is why we are now celebrating, what we will achieve,” said a resident.

“In independence we are going to have hospitals and schools and a lot of development around here. Our mothers and sisters died in the past. Hospitals were very far from us.”

South Sudan's independence comes after decades of conflict with the north in which over 1.5 million people died. The new oil-rich nation is one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.

A historic peace agreement between North and South Sudan signed in 2005 paved the way for an independence referendum in January 2011, in which southerners voted almost unanimously to secede. North Sudan has officially recognized southern independence.

China rolls out red carpet for Bashir

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with Sudan's leader Omar al-Bashir during the signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on June 29, 2011 in Beijing, China

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186876.html

Chinese President Hu Jintao has welcomed his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir in the capital Beijing, saying the visit will bolster the traditional friendship among the two nations.

The two presidents held talks in the Great Hall of People in central Beijing on Wednesday and signed several economic cooperation pacts.

"Mr. Bashir, you are a guest who has travelled from afar, and we welcome you," Hu said in his opening remarks.

State media quoted Hu as saying that al-Bashir's visit would solidify and develop traditional China-Sudan ties and promote “practical cooperation” between the two states “in many fields."

The Sudanese president, who called Hu his "friend and brother", thanked his counterpart for the "warm welcome and treatment."

Chinese officials said that the two presidents also discussed "Sudan's ongoing north-south peace process and the Darfur issue" as South Sudan prepares to become an independent country on July 9.

Sudan is China's sixth largest source of overseas oil and, according to Sudanese media, Bashir's meeting with Hu followed a trip to the headquarters of China National Petroleum Corporation, where he concluded an agreement to boost Chinese oil investment in Sudan.

Bashir's visit comes ahead of the partition of Sudan into two states, scheduled for implementation on July 9, after two decades of civil war.

Chinese officials have confirmed that achieving a peaceful relationship between Bashir's government and the newly formed state of Southern Sudan will be the main focus of their discussions during his visit.

China needs stability in Sudan to maintain an outward flow of oil and ensure the safety of its substantial investments there. Since most of Sudan's oil resources will lie in the newly formed southern state, the upcoming secession will be of major significance for China.

96,000 displaced in North South Sudan conflict: UN

Smoke rises from burnt homes in the town of Abyei in this handout photo released by the United Nations mission in Sudan on May 23, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183720.html

The United Nations says the tense situation in the border region of Abyei between North and South Sudan has displaced 96,000 people.

“As of 5 June, the estimated number of people to be displaced by the Abyei violence was 96,000 people,” the UN's humanitarian office said.

“The situation in Abyei over the weekend was reported to be tense and unpredictable with reports of sporadic gunfire, and tukuls (traditional thatched huts) being burnt,” AFP quoted the UN office as saying on Tuesday.

According to reports, northern troops seized the oil-producing region on May 21, two days after the southern forces attacked a convoy of northern troops, killing 22 people.

The 'humanitarian crisis' in Abyei comes “in the middle of the hunger period” in the South which is between March and August. Tens of thousands of people lessen their consumption until the South's first harvest.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees says more than 300,000 southerners who used to live in the North have returned to the South, adding to the woes of the fledging government.

Meanwhile, clashes between the Southern and Northern armies in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, has claimed the lives of six people, the UN sources said on Tuesday.

“At one of the hospitals we visited, we saw six dead bodies, four of whom were government of Sudan police, and the other two civilians... Earlier we saw about 3,000 people taking refuge at the Kadugli police hospital,” Hua Jiang, spokeswoman for the United Nations Mission in Sudan said.

South Kordofan is situated in the North Sudan and is the only oil-rich state in the country.

Sudan rejects UNSC pullout demand

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Ahmad Karti

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183374.html

Sudan has dismissed a request by the UN Security Council (UNSC) to pull its forces out of the oil-producing region of Abyei on the border between the South and the North.

“Sudan does not need to be asked to pull its army out of Abyei because this is a Sudanese territory,” AFP quoted Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Ahmad Karti as saying on Sunday.

“The army's entering the area to handle the security situation there was necessitated by the continued security breaches committed by the other party,” Karti added, referring to South Sudan troops.

The Sudanese top diplomat went on to say that their forces will remain in the region until an agreement is reached.

Karti's remarks come a day after the UNSC called on Khartoum to withdraw its forces from Abyei. The council claimed Sudan's military operations in Abyei are “serious violations” of the so-called 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The 2005 deal ended more than two decades of civil war between the rival sides. In January, majority of southerners voted for secession from the North in accordance with the agreement.

The agreement had left the fate of Abyei to a later referendum by the residents of the region to choose whether to join the South or the North.

Sudanese Armed Forces seized control of the oil-producing region on May 21. The measure came after troops from the South fired shots at a convoy of northern forces and UN peacekeepers on May 19.

US to review NYC nuclear plant location

Fukushima plant workers prepare to deal with nuclear disaster.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170959.html

In the wake of Japan's nuclear disaster, the US Energy Secretary is studying whether a nuclear reactor near New York City should remain at its current location.

Steven Chu said the safety of the Indian Point Energy Center, located just 50 kilometers from New York City, has been heavily disputed in recent days.

“We will have to look at whether this reactor should remain,” Chu said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.

According to Chu, the Obama administration and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission continue to believe that the reactor is safe and that they are only reviewing existing evacuation plans following the Japan incident.

On Thursday, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report highlighting vulnerabilities at the Indian Point which they claim the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has largely ignored.

A recent report by ABC News suggests US-based General Electric (GE), which designed all six reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, was forewarned of the critical engineering flaws in its water-cooled reactors which are currently in danger of undergoing a catastrophic meltdown following Japan's last week 8.9-magnitute earthquake.

Vladislav Shurygin, military publicist from Russian newspaper Zavtra, says, “Today we are not dealing with a Japanese nuclear catastrophe, despite the whole world watching developments in Japan and everyone knowing about Fukushima.”

“In fact, it's an American nuclear disaster. All four reactors hit by explosions were built by the American General Electric Company. Moreover, the plant was constructed and designed mainly by American experts,” he said.

Sudan to build 1st nuclear plant

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was offered nuclear technology
by Iran earlier this year


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139759.html


Sudan is planning to build a nuclear reactor and its first nuclear power plant for peaceful electricity purposes by 2020, state media say.

Director-general of the Sudanese Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed Ahmed Hassan el-Tayeb, said on Sunday that his government had begun the plan for the development of the nuclear reactor at the beginning of this year.

The country "has already started preparing for the project ... in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is expected to build the first nuclear power plant in the year 2020," state news agency SUNA quoted Tayeb as saying.

An IAEA delegation is set to visit the African country this week to discuss the project, he went on to say.

Sudan has been an IAEA member since 1958, which means that it can develop nuclear energy with IAEA assistance.

Though the country has been under severe US sanctions since 1997, it has managed to boost both its oil production and increase its dam construction projects, thus encouraging growth.

However, in March, Khartoum announced that it needed to look for an alternate source of energy in an attempt to meet its growing demands.

Earlier this year, Iran offered to transfer nuclear technology to Sudan.

The African state has close economic and political ties with the Islamic Republic, which is locked in a dispute with the United States and some of its Western allies over its nuclear program.

Russia will launch Bushehr plant despite US pressure

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121641§ionid=351020104


Russia says it will go ahead with the inauguration of Iran's Bushehr atomic power plant despite growing opposition from the United States.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Andrei Nesterenko made the remarks days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that the launch of the long-delayed 1,000 megawatt plant would send Tehran the wrong message.

The US and its allies have been trying hard to push through a fourth round of sanctions against Iran, while China and Russia have been reluctant to go along with the scheme.

Nesterenko said, "Everything is being done under IAEA [the International Atomic Energy Agency] regulations" and "spent fuel deliveries to Iran will be returned to Russia with the IAEA's seal according to the standards of all the existing technology in this field."

Russia says it will put the nuclear reactor into service in August.

Nesterenko said that Clinton did not voice any concern over the project during the talks in Moscow.

In 1995, Russia signed an agreement with Iran to build the plant. Under the deal, the plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999, but the completion of the $1 billion project has been frequently delayed.

Nesterenko added that possible new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program would not halt the start-up of the plant.

"It would be wrong to make any links between the construction and the launch of the plant and the growing need to take new measures towards Tehran," AFP quoted the Russian official as saying on Thursday.

Although the IAEA inspectors stationed in Iran have not been able to find any evidence to support US and European claims of diversion in the Iranian nuclear program, the Western allies continue to accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear military aims under the guise of a civilian program — a claim repeatedly rejected by Tehran.

Iran is adamant that, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at civilian applications of the technology which many Western countries enjoy but try to prevent other states to acquire.

Putin clarifies Iran nuclear plant launch date

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121137§ionid=351020104


Russia has announced that it plans to start up Iran's long-delayed 1,000 megawatt Bushehr nuclear plant “this summer.”

"The start-up of the first reactor of the Bushehr atomic power station is planned for this summer," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

The construction of the Bushehr plant started in 1975 when Germany signed a contract to build a nuclear plant in Bushehr. Berlin, however, pulled out of the project following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran then reached an agreement with Russia in 1995. Under the deal, the plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999 but completion of the $1 billion project has been frequently delayed.

Putin's remarks come two days after Russian Energy Minster Sergei Shmatko said "technical reasons" are the only obstacles in the way of the long awaited launch of the Bushehr power plant.

Putin noted that Moscow will “continue work on developing atomic energy capacity both at home and abroad.”

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran also announced earlier in March that the Bushehr nuclear plant will come on stream by June this year.

Russia: Bushehr plant to come on stream in 2010

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116738§ionid=351020104


The head of Russia's state nuclear corporation (Rosatom) says Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr will go into service by the end of 2010.

"All the work is going as scheduled. The tests are a success. This year will be the year of the launch of Bushehr," AFP quoted the General-Director of Rosatom Sergei Kiriyenko as saying on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Director of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi said that the Bushehr nuclear power plant will be operational by late September.

He added that experts are conducting important and final tests and that there will be no delays on the part of the Russians in launching the plant.

Western corporations began the construction of the Bushehr facility in the 1970s. However, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the Western companies reneged on their commitments and pulled out of the project due to political pressure from Washington.

Iran then turned to Russia to complete the project. In 1992, Tehran and Moscow signed a deal to complete the construction of the nuclear power plant.

The Bushehr plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999, but its launch has been repeatedly delayed

Iran to Build More Nuclear Plants

Source: Al Jazeera

Iran's government has ordered its atomic energy organization to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants, state media has reported.
Irna, Iran's state news agency, said on Sunday that construction of five plants whose locations had already been decided would start within the next two months, while suitable locations would be found for the other five.
The announcement came after a cabinet meeting chaired by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president.

Ahmadinejad said that in order to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity, Iran would need 500,000 centrifuges of the current model being used in Natanz, Iran's largest nuclear enrichment plant.

"We should reach a position where we can produce from 250-300 tones of nuclear fuel a year. To do this we must employ new centrifuges with a higher speed," Ahmadinejad said.

'Response to resolution'

The decision comes only days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, censured Iran over its nuclear program and called on Tehran to halt the construction of a newly revealed enrichment facility near the city of Qom.

A senior US official said on Sunday that "if carried out [the plant construction] would constitute yet another violation of Iran's continuing obligation of suspension of all enrichment-related activities.

"There remains a fleeting opportunity for Iran to engage with the international community, if only it would make that choice," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Obama administration has not yet released a formal response.

Alireza Ronaghi, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Iran, said the latest announcement was a very clear reaction to the IAEA resolution.
"The head of Iran's atomic organization said that Iran didn't have any plans to have any more nuclear enrichment facilities, but the resolution forced them to make this decision.

"He also said that the new enrichment facilities will ... be built in the mountains - safe from possible strikes by air, or any other kind of threat.
"Right now I don't think that ratcheting up the rhetoric against Iran will help. Both Iran and the international community are moving towards a place where there will be no more space left for reconciliation," Ronaghi said.

Reduce ties

Iranian MPs responded angrily to the resolution by demanding that Ahmadinejad's government reduce ties with the IAEA.
"We consider the behavior of the IAEA to be that of double standards and political. We want it to give up this double standard which has tarnished its reputation," the MPs said in a statement on Friday.

Western powers, including the US, accuse Iran of covertly seeking to develop atomic weapons. They demand that Iran accept a UN brokered offer that would delay Iran's ability to make a nuclear weapon as well as engage in broader talks with the ultimate goal of persuading it to stop its enrichment program.
Iran has amassed about 1,500 kilogram’s (3,300 pounds) of low-enriched
uranium at Natanz but Tehran insists it is for civilian purposes.
The UN offer aims to convince Iran to hand over more than 1,200 kilogram’s (2,600 pounds), more than the commonly accepted amount needed to produce weapons-grade material.

Iran has rejected the UN terms for the plan.

The decision to build more enrichment plants will aggravate tensions between the Islamic Republic and major powers seeking a diplomatic solution to the long-running dispute over Iranian nuclear work.