U.N. increasingly alarmed by Sudanese war

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UNITED NATIONS, April 13 (UPI) -- All parties to the conflict in the Sudanese region are called to settle their differences immediately, the United Nations said.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said South Sudan had taken a step away from peace by seizing an oil-rich region on its side of the border. Though urged by the United Nations to restrain his forces, Bashir was quoted by the independent Sudan Tribune as saying war was a "lose-lose situation."

South Sudanese forces this week seized control of Heglig in Sudan. The conflict comes as both sides draw closer to war over disputes over oil and border territories. A comprehensive peace agreement signed in 2005 culminated with South Sudan's independence in July, though border skirmishes, ethnic conflicts and disputes over oil have threatened the fragile peace.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir said he wasn't obligated to respect U.N. calls to withdraw his forces. The U.N. Security Council, in a statement, expressed "deep and growing alarm" over the conflict.

"The recent violence threatens to return both countries to full-scale war and the period of tragic loss of life and suffering, destroyed infrastructure and economic devastation, which they have worked so hard and long to overcome," Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in a presidential statement.

Both sides were called on to find a peaceful and immediate solution to their differences, including measures detailed in the 2005 peace deal.