UN officials seek to convene Kiir-Bashir summit in a third country: reports
March 29, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – A number of senior United Nations (UN) officials are privately seeking to bring Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir and his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir together for a summit in a third country, according to newspaper reports in Khartoum.
The Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) repelled the attack, Kiir said and chased SAF soldiers all the way inside South Kordofan before taking over oil-rich region of Heglig.
But while SPLA drew close to Heglig they never managed to take it and eventually withdrew back inside South Sudan after clashes with SAF.
The incident led Khartoum to call off the Bashir-Kiir summit scheduled for Tuesday 3 April in South Sudan’s capital Juba.
But Sudanese media have indicated that there are behind the scenes contacts by senior UN officials to rearrange the meeting at a “neutral” venue.
These efforts are led by Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan and South Sudan Haile Menkerios and others who are also in a bid to de-escalate the situation.
The chairman of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki is on his way to Addis Ababa to review progress in preparations for the political-security meetings between delegations from Khartoum and Juba.
On Wednesday, military delegations from the two countries met at the expert level to prepare for the joint political-security meeting led by defense ministers from the two countries.
(ST)