South Sudan: This Means War

As far as South Sudan is concerned, Omar al-Bashir has crossed the Rubicon. In a meeting today with Chinese President Hu Jintao, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir said it was "a very critical moment for the Republic of South Sudan because our neighbor in Khartoum has declared war," the AP reports. In reality neither Sudan nor South Sudan has formally declared war on the other, but you can see how Kiir might interpret yesterday's bombing as an act of war. Al-Bashir has also openly declared the South his "enemy." Kiir arrived in Beijing yesterday to ask China for economic and diplomatic support. (More Sudan stories.)