Khartoum to arm South Sudan rebels, according to leaked document

Sudan's government plans to increase military assistance to rebels in South Sudan, which could prolong the south's civil war and return the region to a wider conflict, according to a leaked document.

Sudan will provide tanks and artillery, and share intelligence with rebels fighting South Sudan's government, according to the minutes of a high-level meeting of security and military officials in Khartoum, that a top American expert on Sudan has concluded are genuine.

South Sudan - which broke away from Sudan in 2011 after a peaceful vote for independence - has had an internal conflict since last December between supporters of the government and former vice-president Riek Machar. Thousands have been killed and some 1.7 million people displaced.

The leaked minutes say that Machar and two commanders requested advanced weapons and training.

"Our reply was that we have no objection, provided that we agree on a common objective," said Lieutenant General Hashim Abdalla Mohammed, chief of the Joint General Staff in the minutes. Mohammed also talks about self-rule of South Sudan's Upper Nile region, where a lot of the country's oil is located.

Rebel leader Machar has previously denied that Sudan was helping his side. "Khartoum is one of the mediators," he said in August. "Khartoum is neutral."