Sudan Oil Talks Fail; Pipeline Shutdown Looms

 　　Sudan and South Sudan have failed to resolve a dispute over oil revenues, less than 24 hours before the south is due to halt crude production and close its pipeline¹ to the sea.  Failure to settle the dispute could have grave implications for the economies of both countries.

　　North-South Sudanese talks on sharing oil revenues started well Friday, when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudanese President Salva Kir met on the sidelines of a regional summit.

　　Hopes of a deal were raised during the day when the host of the talks, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, told East African leaders an announcement was expected shortly.

　　"We had informal discussions this morning to deal with the current crisis between the republic of Southern Sudan and the Republic of Sudan," he said.  "I believe we will have an announcement to make on this matter at the end of our meeting."

　　But when the meeting broke up, Mr. Meles told reporters the hoped-for deal had fallen through.

　　"I think there's quite a lot of progress, but not enough for us to be able to clinch² a deal now," he said.

　　Sources close to the talks say announcement of the deal was being made to regional leaders when South Sudan's President Salva Kir abruptly³ stood up and said his side had not accepted the terms.

　　The south's chief negotiator at the talks, Pagan Amoum, later told reporters a deal had never been close.  Amoum said the south remains⁴ adamant⁵ that the Khartoum government must make restitution⁶ for oil it has confiscated⁷ during their protracted⁸ dispute.

　　"These talks could not go anywhere because Khartoum is insisting to continue stealing ... and are determined⁹ that they will not rob and steal any oil that will go through the pipeline, that is why we are forced not to send any oil through their pipeline," Amoum said.

　　In an opinion piece in The New York Times this week, the adviser¹⁰ to the African Union mediation¹¹ panel, Alex de Waal, said a pipeline shutdown would be “suicidal."  He says it would cut off 97 percent of the south's income.  It would mean a loss of $650 million a month in revenue.

　　Chief southern negotiator Amoum said the decision to close down the pipeline had been hard.  But he rejected a reporter's suggestion that it might be better to keep the pipeline, and the oil revenue temporarily flowing while the dispute is settled.

　　"For you to suggest that we continue to lose for one month and pump the oil to be stolen, it's very strange.  You want the south to lose more?  That is what is being suggested," he said.  "That is why we say, please stop this behavior and we are ready to resume.  So you are right.  South Sudan is losing and stand to lose?  It is because the government of Sudan is stealing and robbing the resources.  That is why we are losing."

　　Amoum said the shutdown is well under way and would be complete by Saturday.  He said it would take a week to resume full production after an agreement is reached.

　　Oil is considered the foundation of the economies of both north and south Sudan.  The south took more than 70 percent of their oil resources when it broke away from Khartoum last July.  But the oil can only be exported through the north.  A planned alternative pipeline to the south through Kenya is still years away.

1 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

2 clinch   

v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench

参考例句：

• Clinch the boards together.用钉子把木板钉牢在一起。
• We don't accept us dollars,please Swiss francs to clinch a deal business.我方不收美元，请最好用瑞士法郎来成交生意。

3 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

6 restitution   

n.赔偿；恢复原状

参考例句：

• It's only fair that those who do the damage should make restitution.损坏东西的人应负责赔偿，这是再公平不过的了。
• The victims are demanding full restitution.受害人要求全额赔偿。

7 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

8 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

10 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

11 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。