Sudan Pipeline Repaired but Blast Remains Mystery
KHARTOUM, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A pipeline holed in a weekend explosion has been repaired, Sudanese officials said on Tuesday, but no one has claimed responsibility for the attack that followed a controversial accord with an opposition leader.
The pro-government Akhbar al-Youm daily quoted Hassan Mohamed Ali al-Tom, secretary general of the energy and mining ministry, as saying the damaged pipeline was repaired in under six hours and resumed full operation early on Monday.
An explosion hit the pipeline early on Sunday near Erkowit, about 120 km (75 miles) southwest of Port Sudan, the country's main port which is around 1,200 kms (750 miles) northeast of Khartoum. The blast carved out a two-metre-(yard) hole.
In September, a 1,610-km (1,000-mile) oil pipeline carrying crude from the interior to Port Sudan for export was attacked near Atbara in northern Sudan. The umbrella group of northern opposition parties, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) claimed responsibility for that attack.
But a leading component of the NDA, the Umma party of former prime minister al-Sadeq al-Mahdi, signed an agreement with the government in Djibouti last Friday calling for dialogue to resolve Sudan's problems, including a long-running civil war.
A politician who did not want to be named said after the attack that it might have been staged by elements in the NDA opposed to the agreement.
The NDA condemned the deal on Monday. "(NDA) factions do not have the right to conclude individual agreements with the Khartoum regime," an NDA statement said.
The targeted pipeline is used to deliver refined oil from Port Sudan to Khartoum for storage and consumption. |
