Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said he had ordered the closure of cross-border oil pipelines from South Sudan from Sunday because of southern support for rebels operating in Sudan, the state news agency SUNA said on Saturday.
He also called on Sudan’s youth to join an Islamic holy war, and ordered army barracks to open for enlistment from Sunday.
South Sudan said it had not been informed about a decision by Sudanese President to stop cross-border oil flows, the southern information minister said.
“We haven’t heard anything about that yet. We had agreed that the oil would flow,” Barnaba Marial Benjamin told Reuters, adding that South Sudan rejected Bashir’s claims that it was supporting rebels operating on Sudanese soil.
Bashir earlier said he had ordered a halt from Sunday to oil exports from the landlocked South through Sudan, because of the South’s alleged support for rebels.