Bashir urges immediate end to South Sudan conflict

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has called for an immediate end to three weeks of deadly fighting in neighboring South Sudan that has killed thousands.

“There should be peace and security in South Sudan,” Bashir said on Monday as he visited Juba for talks over the violence that has plagued South Sudan.

“We come so that we can bring peace to South Sudan, to our brothers and sisters in South Sudan. Our relationship is very important,” Bashir added.

On Monday, Bashir held talks with his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir on the conflict.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry said the two presidents were “in consultations about the deployment of a mixed force to protect the oilfields in the south.”

The visit came as rival parties are holding talks in Ethiopia to reach a deal aimed at ending the deadly violence in the African country.

Despite the talks, fighting still continues between South Sudanese government troops and rebels over the oil-producing Unity and Upper Nile states in the north.

UN officials say they believe thousands of people have already been killed, and both sides are alleged to have committed atrocities.

The political crisis in South Sudan began last month after President Kiir accused former South Sudan Vice-President Riek Machar of attempting a coup.

The fighting between troops loyal to Kiir, who is from the Dinka ethnic group, and opposition leader Machar, a Nuer, erupted around Juba on December 15.

South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after its people overwhelmingly voted in a referendum for a split from the North.

The government in Juba is grappling with rampant corruption, unrest and conflict in the deeply impoverished but oil-rich nation, left devastated by decades of war.