By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The United States suspended talks withSudan on normalising relations on Tuesday, saying leaders fromthe north and south were not serious about ending clashes thathave stoked fears of a return to civil war.
The announcement by the U.S. envoy to Sudan raised pressureon both sides as the U.N. Security Council began talks with therivals to try to shore up their 2005 peace agreement after theclashes in the oil-producing central region of Abyei lastmonth.
"As of right now our talks are suspended," RichardWilliamson told reporters. "At this point the leadership ofeither side is not interested in meaningful peace. I won't bepart of a sham peace that won't change the situation."
Visibly angry, Williamson said he was "sad anddisappointed" and until north and south Sudan wanted peace"there's nothing the United States or others can do".
Nafie Ali Nafie, an adviser to Sudan's president, describedthe U.S. move as "sudden" and "very unfortunate." He toldreporters talks on improving relations with the United Stateshad been going well until they reached the subject of Abyei.
Sudan's U.N. ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem wentfurther, saying Williamson had been unhelpful from the start.
"He did not negotiate in good faith," he told Reuters inKhartoum where he was greeting the Security Council diplomats.
"He came to spoil," Abdalhaleem said. "The success of thetalks has never figured in his mind. He came just to pollutethe atmosphere and go. Linking Abyei to the Sudan-U.S.so-called dialogue, Abyei has never been a part of this."
Sudan, under U.S. sanctions for more than a decade, hasbeen in talks with the United States on normalising relations.Before any deal, Washington wants to ensure lasting peace inthe south and an end to conflict in the western Darfur region.
CLASHES IN ABYEI
The clashes in Abyei last month increased fears of a returnto all-out war between north and south, which signed a peaceagreement in 2005 to end two decades of civil war.
At stake in Abyei is control of lucrative oilfields and apipeline supplying about half Sudan's daily 500,000 barreloutput. Three years after the accord, the sides have failed toagree on the borders or administration for the area.
South Sudan's leader Salva Kiir accused President OmarHassan al-Bashir's government on Tuesday of reinforcing troopsin Abyei. Kiir said he had called Bashir to order a pullback.
Kiir, who is president of south Sudan as well as firstvice-president of the country as a whole, said there was nodanger of a return to war "as long as there was a will forpeace."
Deng Arop, a senior official of the parliament in thesouth, told Reuters a brigade of northern troops -- at least1,500 soldiers -- had arrived in el-Muglad, a town about 120 km(75 miles) north of Abyei, over the weekend.
No one was immediately available for comment from Sudan'sarmed forces. But Abdalhaleem denied there was any troopbuild-up.
"I don't think there any troops," he said. "Indeed, thisissue of troops is part of the campaign and the propagandaalways used to give a bad image to the government."
The envoys of the 15-nation U.N. Security Council are on athree-day visit to Sudan, where they will also look at theconflict in Darfur that has been raging since 2003.
The envoys discussed Abyei with Kiir ahead of meetingsscheduled with northern leaders on Wednesday and Thursday.
(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau and Skye Wheelerin Juba; Editing by Giles Elgood)
