Sudan soldier says beaten in detention, Juba denies

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Sudanese soldier released by South Sudan said on Thursday he and 12 other comrades had been beaten and insulted during their detention in the South, in the latest sign of tensions between the neighbours.

South Sudan strongly denied any mistreatment of 13 Sudanese soldiers it had released on Wednesday after capturing them during fighting at the disputed Heglig oilfield two weeks ago.

"This is not true. They were not beaten. The government told them to say they were beaten," South Sudan's Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said, adding that Sudan was still holding at least seven South Sudanese prisoners.

South Sudan had handed over the prisoners to Egyptian officials who flew them to Cairo and from there to Khartoum where they arrived early on Thursday.

Diplomats had hoped the release would defuse tensions between the African neighbours whose armies have been embroiled in three weeks of border fighting, and bring both sides back to the negotiating table.

"We were subject to all kinds of insults and beatings during our stay there," Lieutenant Khalid Hassan Ahmed, a doctor in the Sudanese army, told reporters at Khartoum airport.

He said South Sudanese soldiers and Darfur rebels fighting at their side had captured them at Heglig hospital two weeks ago and then brought them via another place to Bentiu, a southern oil town, some 80 km (50 miles) from the disputed border.

The prisoners were put in a stuffy and cramped container and given only one meal a deal and little water, said Khalid who said he also spoke on behalf of the other released soldiers.

"We moved from there to Juba by air. We were tied inside the airplane. When we arrived at Juba airport one of the SPLA (South Sudanese army) members untied the ropes so that when we appeared before the media, it would like we had been treated well and according to international conventions regarding the treatment of the POWs," he said.

"This is just untrue," he said.

Khalid showed no visible signs of mistreatment. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had provided the Sudanese during their detention with shoes, mats, soap and mosquito nets and conveyed messages to their families.

Khalid said fighters of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Darfur rebel group which Sudan accuses of fighting with the SPLA, had been responsible for most of the beatings and insults the prisoners were subjected to immediately after their detention.

Juba denies it supports JEM or other rebels groups which plan to overthrow the Khartoum government.

Egypt's ambassador to Sudan, Abdul Ghafar Aldeeb, said Khartoum should now free all its South Sudanese prisoners. "I urge the release," he said.

Army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khalid said Sudan held a number of southern prisoners whose treatment was in accord with international law. He did not say how many were held and whether or when they would be released.

South Sudan announced on Friday its withdrawal from Heglig, bowing to pressure from the U.N. Security Council worried the fighting might lead to an all-out war. Juba has accused Khartoum of having bombed southern territory several times since then.

(Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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