Sudan formally accepts AU mediation proposal to defuse tensions with Juba
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June 16, 2013 (KHARTOUM/JUBA) – The Sudanese government has officially
announced its acceptance of proposals made by the head of the African
Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Thabo Mbeki aimed at
bridging the gap with Juba.
JPEG - 19.9 kb
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki speaks during a meeting
between Sudanese Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein and his
South Sudan counterpart John Kong Nyuon in Ethiopia’s capital Addis
Ababa, March 8, 2013. (REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri)
The foreign ministry spokesperson Abu-Bakr al-Sideeq Mohamed al-Amin
said that Sudan has informed the AUHIP it does not object to its
proposals for solving the problems facing the implementation of
cooperation agreements.
He affirmed that the AUHIP proposals with regard to the demilitarized
zone would secure withdrawal of South Sudan’s troops from occupied
Sudanese areas adding that the timelines specified in the proposal
falls within the 60-day deadline to stop the flow of South Sudan’s oil
through Sudanese territory.
Tensions between the countries have escalated last week when Sudanese
president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir ordered the closure of pipelines
carrying oil from landlocked South Sudan.
Sudan also announced that it will put on hold cooperation agreements
signed with South Sudan last year on a wide range of issues that
included citizenship rights, security issues, banking and border
trade.
Last March the two sides also agreed on the implementation schedule
for these accords.
Juba said that the flow of oil has not stopped or abated despite
Bashir’s directives while Khartoum emphasized that the process will
take 60 days to complete and could be reversed if South Sudan gives up
its support to anti-Khartoum insurgents.
Reuters said that diplomats doubt Sudan will actually close the two
cross-border export pipelines because its economy has been suffering
without South Sudan’s pipeline fees.
Oil used to be the main source for Sudan’s budget until southern
secession in July 2011, when Khartoum lost 75 percent of its oil
production and its status as oil exporter overnight.
The Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson gave a glimpse of what is
contained in the fresh AUHIP initiative.
On the border issue, the AUHIP suggested mandating the African Union
Border Program (AUBP) to set up an advisory committee to determine the
baseline for the demilitarized security zone (zero line) on the ground
on the basis of the coordinates listed in the map provided by the
AUHIP to the two parties.
The representatives from the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring
Mission (JBVMM) would participate in the process of identifying the
baseline which shall begin on Tuesday and will continues for six weeks
during which time both parties should implement all agreements on the
demilitarized zone.
On the issue of support for rebel groups on both sides, the AUHIP
decided to assign the African Union Commission (AUC) and the head of
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to take the
necessary steps to verify claims of support and harboring of rebels.
Each side shall provide the necessary information for the AUHIP no
later than June 20 and shall expect to receive a response on the
findings no later than June 25.
The AUHIP will inform the African Union Peace and Security Council
(AUPSC) as well as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the
findings while the AUC and the head of the IGAD will suggest the
necessary steps to address the issue of rebel support within the
framework of the cooperation agreements.
Mbeki’s panel demanded that both sides work together to renounce and
end any support to armed rebellion in the other country and urged them
to fully and sincerely implement the security agreement signed in
September 2012.
Khartoum accuses Juba of backing the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF)
which has recently stepped up its military activities in Darfur and
South Kordofan.
Last April the SRF moved its operations to North Kordofan and managed
to briefly occupy the state’s second largest town of Um Rawaba much to
the surprise of government and observers.
This week the Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), a
member of SRF, shelled South Kordofan capital city of Kadugli.
SOUTH SUDAN ‘READY TO ENGAGE SUDAN’
On Sunday South Sudan said it has informally learned that Khartoum had
accepted Mebki’s proposals.
“We not have received any direct communication from Sudan but we have
learned that they have accepted the proposal by the African Union
which would examine ways that would not affect the oil flow," South
Sudanese minister of information Barnaba Marial Benjamin said today.
Benjamin said his country remained committed to the full
implementation of the nine cooperation agreements and the
implementation matrix.
“As the government of the Republic of South Sudan, we are ready to
engage Sudan for any discussion to examine ways to fully implement the
cooperation agreement. There are already mechanisms in place to
address complaints arising from the implementation process. We have
Joint Political Security Mechanism (JPSM) and Joint Border
Verification and Monitoring team (JBVMT). These are the bodies through
which such complaints are addressed”, he told Sudan Tribune.
The government spokesperson said his country was also ready to hold
discussions on the basis of the proposed discussions through the
AUHIP.
“There is no problem at all. We do not have any objection. The
position of the government has been to resolve differences through
peaceful dialogue. So we are ready to hold discussion on the basis of
the proposed discussions through the African Union”, he added.
(ST)
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