South Africa pledges support to mediation proposal on Abyei

October 21, 2012 (JUBA) – South Africa on Sunday pledged its resolve to support a peace proposal by the African Union High Level Implementation (AUHIP) which aims to end the long-running dispute between Sudan and South Sudan over the region of Abyei, a leading member of South Sudan’s governing Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

The South African government made the pledge at a high level meeting with visiting officials from South Sudan on Sunday. The meeting, which reportedly discussed strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries, commended the leadership of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and the government in its efforts to bring peace to the country.

Luka Biong Deng, a co-chair of Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC) said in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Sunday that South Africa had pledged strong support to the proposal by the mediators.

“I and Justice Deng Biong finished fruitful meetings today with leadership of the African National Congress and Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa. We got all assurances that South Africa will not only ensure that the proposal on Abyei will be presented to African Union Peace and Security Council but that it want the proposal to be unanimously endorsed by all members of the Council”, Deng told Sudan Tribune from South Africa.

The African Union Peace and Security Council will hold a ministerial meeting next Wednesday where chief mediator Thabo Mbeki is expected to report about the 27 September cooperation agreement and his proposal to settle the Abyei issue.

The meeting is expected to endorse the report and issue a resolution demanding the Security Council to adopt it under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice voiced its support to Mbeki’s proposal and hoped it would remain the basis of future negotiating efforts. On the other hand Russian diplomats expressed their support to Sudan’s position saying it only wants to ensure a permanent peace between the two tribes involved in the dispute – the Dinka Ngok and the Misseriya.

The South Sudanese official further added that “South Africa commits itself to use its diplomatic relations to engage Khartoum, China, Russia, Eritrea and Egypt as well as BRICS countries [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] to convince Bashir to accept the Abyei proposal.”

The South Sudanese delegation also explored the role which South Africa could play in bringing stability and lasting settlements to list of issues which the world’s newest nation has not been able to resolve with neighbouring Sudan since it became an independent state in July last year.

South Sudan and Sudan have struck cooperation agreement last month allowing resumption of oil exportation, border trade, and establishing a demilitarized buffer zone to prevent cross-border attacks by rebel groups from both sides.

However, Sudan rejected the proposal presented by the African Union mediation aiming to hold a referendum in October 2013 with participation of Ngok Dinka and Misseriya residing permanently there.

Khartoum pointed to a proposal the mediation made in November 2010 including the possibility of dividing the contested area between the two countries.

Juba is strongly opposed to the partition and seeks to mobilize international support to the recent AU proposition which espouses its position on the issue.

(ST)