The United Nations Security Council has called on South Sudan to withdraw from a town in Sudan that it captured Wednesday. The 15-nation council called the seizure of the oil-producing town of Heglig a "very serious development".
Khartoum accuses South Sudan of aggression, while South Sudan's President Salva Kiir reportedly told the U.N. Secretary-General that the clashes leading to the capture of Heglig were in self-defense.
Whatever the cause, the U.N. Security Council demands that the fighting stop, the South withdraw and the two countries respect each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice holds the rotating presidency of the council this month.
"Council members stressed that the SPLA must withdraw immediately and Sudan must stop aerial bombardments and incursions into South Sudan. Both sides must return to talks and cease all hostilities," she said.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also expressed his concern at the rising violence. His spokesman, Martin Nesirky said Ban spoke by telephone with President Kiir on Wednesday.
"They discussed the recent escalation of conflict between Sudan and South Sudan. The secretary-general advised that before undertaking a discussion on the cause of the escalation, the immediate priority is to de-escalate the situation to avoid further bloodshed," he said.
The spokesman said the U.N. chief also urged that the two nations hold a presidential summit as soon as possible as a confidence-building measure. The leaders of the two Sudans were supposed to meet earlier this month, but the meeting was canceled after an earlier round of fighting over Heglig.
Ban also spoke with Sudan's U.N. ambassador Tuesday evening and strongly urged Khartoum to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further military action.
The U.N. chief was in Washington Wednesday for a meeting of the Middle East Quartet. On the sidelines, his spokesman said he discussed the tensions in Sudan with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The African Union, which has been trying to mediate the outstanding issues between the two Sudans since they separated in July, has also called on the South to pull its troops out of Heglig.
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