Vice president Ali Osman Taha has said Sudan categorically refuses to allow international troops to deploy to the border with South Sudan.

He told the Blue Nile TV channel that Juba’s call for international peacekeepers is to ‘save face after seeing that Heglig is in fact Sudanese territory.’

He described Juba’s calls to negotiate with Khartoum as a new attempt to mask the reality of losing Heglig.