Sudan & South Sudan to resume post-split talk in Juba

October 16, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Talks between Sudan and South Sudan over post-secession issues are expected to resume tomorrow in Juba, less than two weeks since the South Sudanese president Salva Kiir visited Khartoum.

According to sources cited on Sunday by the privately owned Sudanese daily newspaper Al-Sahafah, a delegation of the Sudanese government comprising the ministers of defence, interior and foreign affairs as well as the director-general of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) are due to leave today from Khartoum to Juba where they will meet their South Sudanese counterparts.

The sources, whom the paper described as “reliable”, said the meeting is expected to discuss cross-border arrangements and instruct the joint border demarcation committee to begin its operation on the ground.

South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, visited Khartoum on 8 October for the first time since his country gained independence in July and pledged with his counterpart Omer Al-Bashir to resolve all outstanding issues by the end of this month.

The former war foes remain deadlocked over a wide-array of issues including borders, management of oil, citizenship, external debts and water resources.

On 18 September, Sudan and South Sudan signed a deal to monitor shared borders and open ten crossings along them amid flaring conflicts in Sudan’s border states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan between the country’s army and rebels previously aligned with the south.

Sudan says 80 percent of the 2,200 km borders had been defined but the demarcation process on the ground is yet to be finalized.

Meanwhile, Sudan Tribune has learned that AU mediators and the US envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, who already arrived in Khartoum, will be present at the Juba talks which are also expected to tackle issues of cross-border trade and management of oil.

AU delegation to visit Abyei

A delegation of AU mediators who brokered the 20 June deal between South Sudan and Sudan on temporary arrangements in Abyei intends to visit the hotly-contested region as tension flared after Khartoum said it would not withdrew troops from the region unless the deal is fully implemented.

The delegation would assess the security situation and the deployment of the UN Interim Security Forces for Abyei (UNISFA) which was agreed as part of the agreement.

AU mediators are expected to hold a meeting with the joint North-South committee in Abyei to discuss efforts to implement the agreement in order to facilitate the return of displaced people and migration season of the North-aligned nomads of Messiryah south of the borders.

(ST)