South Sudan exported its first crude cargo in over 18 months from Port Sudan in the North late last week, the country’s information minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said, despite a major heightening of tensions between the former civil war foes over issues relating to oil and security.

Sudan warned the South last month that it would shut the two cross-border pipelines from Southern oil fields to Port Sudan within 60 days, if it did not end its support for rebel groups such as the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) engaged in active insurgency against Khartoum (MEES, 14 June). (CONTINUED - 872 WORDS)