Sudan, South Sudan resume direct talks on Abyei status
September 22, 2022 (JUBA) – Sudan and South Sudan have resumed talks over the final status of Abyei, raising hopes of reaching a deal over the disputed region.
South Sudan’s presidential adviser on security affairs told Sudan Tribune that President Salva Kiir and the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan started talks on the status of the oil-producing area.
“His Excellency, the president of the republic is very concerned about the situation in Abyei. He is fully aware of what is happening there each day and because of this, he has started talking with his brother Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, chairman of the Sovereign Council of Sudan. His Excellency, the president has also been talking to the people and leaders of Abyei. So, the issue of Abyei is a national matter”, he said on Wednesday.
The aide attributed resumption of direct talks between the two neighbouring countries to Sudan’s political situation and the peace process in South Sudan.
“There have been intervening factors. The developments in Sudan and the peace process in the country have taken much of the time of the leaders in Sudan and South Sudan. This has been the situation, but the leaders are ready to talk”, he stressed.
South Sudan’s Minister for East African Affairs, Deng Alor Kuol separately said he met President Kiir to get his opinion on the final status of the disputed oil-producing region.
He described the meeting with Kiir as “positive”, without further elaborations on it.
Talks resumed after Francis Mading Deng, a prominent personality from the Abyei community leadership proposed formation of an autonomous government in the region.
Deng, in his proposal, advocated for a self-governing status of the region that could still be linked to both countries, with security guarantees from the international community.
He preferred an arrangement in which Abyei would be separate from South Sudan and Sudan, saying it would help achieve lasting peace, security, and stability in the region.
The proposal, if accepted and implemented, would enable Abyei resident participate in promoting their participation in public life and bring peaceful coexistence between the Ngok Dinka and neighboring communities.
The proposed idea has been rejected by the Chief Administrator of Abyei, some civil society members, and traditional leaders. Opinions are split between those who think the proposal will bring relative peace, security and some services to the area.
Others say it will perpetuate suffering since it advocates for a joint interim arrangement.
The status of Abyei has been a long-standing dispute between the two countries, causing frustration among the natives, some of whom feel let down by the government of South Sudan and the leadership of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
A referendum, which would have given natives of the contested region an opportunity to decide whether to remain in Kordofan in Sudan or return to Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan from which it was transferred in 1905, was expected to be conducted in 2011.
But disagreements over who was eligible to vote in the referendum caused delays.
In 2013, the Dinka Ngok held a self-determination referendum and overwhelmingly voted to return to South Sudan, but both nations rejected its outcome.
(ST)