ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Sudan will free ships carrying cargos of crude it seized from South Sudan to ease tensions between the two countries, Sayed El-Khatib, deputy head of negotiating team said on Saturday.
"President Bashir is ready to make this gesture. Sudan is going to release the vessels detained in Port Sudan," he told a media conference in the Ethiopian capital.
South Sudan said on Monday it started shutting down oil production and accused Sudan of seizing $815 million worth of crude, escalating an increasingly bitter row over oil revenues between the former civil war foes.
(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Toby Chopra)
