Sudan ex-foes agree to resumption of talks, set deadline for
resolution of Abyei impasse
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March 18, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The leaders of Sudan’s north-south halves
agreed on Thursday to resume suspended talks on post-secession
arrangements and break the deadlock over the contested central area of
Abyei ahead of the south’s official debut as the world’s newest nation
in July this year.
JPEG - 22.1 kb
Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (R) meets First Vice President
and southern president Salva Kiir in Khartoum January 27, 2011
(Reuters Pictures)
The oil-producing south Sudan voted almost unanimously in a referendum
earlier this year to secede from the north with which it fought nearly
half a century of intermittent civil wars which ended with the signing
of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005.
Sudan president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and the south’s leader Salva
Kiir Mayardit met on Thursday in Khartoum in an attempt to defuse
rising tension between the two sides after the south on March 12
suspended talks with the north following an attack by militias it
accuses the north of arming in the oil-producing state of Upper Nile.
The breakdown of north-south talks sparked international concern and
stoked fears that the two sides might be on a collision course after
the relatively peaceful conduct of south Sudan referendum. The talks
aim to reach a settlement on a wide-array of issues including shares
of oil resources, citizenship, sovereign debts and the status of Abyei
region.
South Sudan army the SPLA clashed more than three times over the past
week with armed militias it accuses the north-based government of
supplying with arms. The south disclosed documents containing orders
from Khartoum for the supply of arms to southern insurgents, but the
north strongly denied the allegations and claimed that the documents
are fabricated.
Thabo Mbeki, the former South African President leading the AU’s
High-level panel on Sudan which is moderating north-south talks, told
reporters in Khartoum on Thursday that Kiir and Al-Bashir reached an
agreement to resume post-secession talks.
“It was agreed with the presidents that all of the outstanding
negotiations will now proceed,” Mbeki said.
According to Mbeki, a joint military team representing the south and
the north’s armies would investigate the veracity of the south-leaked
documents alleging Khartoum’s support to rebel groups, and take action
against whoever is involved in attempts to destabilize the south.
"If there’s any truth to any of those allegations, then necessary
actions will be taken against whoever it is who could have been
involved in any action which is intended to destabilize the government
of South Sudan," Mbeki said.
The two sides set a deadline to break the deadlock over the status of
the contested oil-producing region of Abyei before the end of March,
and agreed to respect the monitoring of Abyei by UN peacekeepers who
complained of restrictions on access to conflict-affected zones.
The turbulent region of Abyei also witnessed clashes this month
between south Sudan police and members of the north-linked nomadic
Arab tribe of Misseriya.
Abyei was supposed to hold a referendum to determine its status but
the plebiscite was stalled due to disagreement between north and south
Sudan over who is eligible to vote.
(ST)
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