UN Security Council hears urgent appeal for action in Sudanese conflict

The United Nations Security Council is to hold urgent discussions about the crisis in Sudan, after the African Union's mediator - former South African President Thabo Mbeki - said action must be taken to halt the fighting with newly-independent South Sudan. A border conflict between the two Sudans deteriorated after South Sudan seized the disputed oil town of Heglig. Sudanese armed forces have carried out aerial attacks on the town, and there are growing fears that a full-scale war may be developing between the two countries. African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki told reporters that only diplomacy can resolve the crisis. "The fact of the matter is that the problems between Sudan and South Sudan cannot be resolved through the use of force," said Mbeki, adding, "they have to be resolved through a negotiated agreement." Distrust runs deep between the neighbours, who are at loggerheads over several key issues, including the position of their border, the amount South Sudan ought to pay for the transport of its oil through Sudan, and the division of national debt. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in July, six months after a referendum agreed under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war that killed more than 2 million people. Listen to Lydia O'Kane's report: