South Sudan says it is withdrawing from disputed oil region



(CNN) -- South Sudan announced Friday it was withdrawing its troops from a contested oil-rich area it seized last week in a move that escalated tensions and fears of a return to war with Sudan.

"An orderly withdrawal will commence immediately and shall be completed within three days," said Barnaba Marial Benjamin, South Sudan's information minister, adding that his country still claims Panthou, or Heglig as it is known in Sudan.

However, Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations said his government's forces drove out the invaders from the south.

"They were forced to withdraw," Ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman told reporters in New York. "They were chased out. If you remember a few days back, the president of the South and a number of their officials started to talk about conditional withdrawal, but yesterday they are being cornered, we fought against them and we chased them out. It is not a withdrawal. We chased them out." Read More

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