April 12, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan stepped up security measures in the capital Juba on Thursday ahead of today’s high-level visit into the country by a delegation from the Sudanese government, expected to be headed by president Omer Al Bashir.

“We would ask for a warm reception from our citizens in honour of the visit [of the Sudanese president],” Barnaba Marial, South Sudan’s Information minister told a press conference in Juba, Thursday.

Schools, shops, international organisations and government institutions as well as offices have been asked not to open to allow people line-up the route between Juba airport and J1, the offices of South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir.

Posters of Bashir and Kiir have also been put up around the capital ahead of Friday’s event.

Marial said the Sudanese leader will be accompanied by a 65-member delegation comprising of his advisors, ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs; and high ranking government officials.

He said Bashir and his South Sudan counterpart, Kiir will hold a one-to-one meeting, which will later be preceded by a ministerial meeting between the two countries, co-chaired by the two presidents.

“The two leaders will mainly discuss all the main areas of last year’s Cooperation Agreement signed between two countries and the key issues within it,” he said, adding that focus will be on the nine agreements reached.

Bashir was originally scheduled to visit Juba in March last year, reciprocating Kiir’s trip to Khartoum in autumn 2011. But tensions around the export of South Sudan’s oil through the north, as well as other issues such as border demarcation and disputed areas has caused the 13 month delay.

South Sudan minister of National Security in the office of the president, Oyai Deng Ajak, said security forces in the country had completed preparations for the event.

Bashir and his delegation will be given the “utmost security attention”, he said.

The minister further said police were prepared in every aspect to ensure the one-day visit of the Sudanese leader is devoid of protests. Since Bashir’s last visit over 20 months ago, communities on the border with Sudan have repeatedly complained of cross border attacks and bombings.

Khartoum has always denied attacking South Sudanese territory, claiming it only targets rebels trying to cross into Sudan. Juba likewise denies backing rebellions in Sudan’s peripheries.

Disputes over border security issues have blighted north-south relations since independence but in March the two sides agreed to implement the Cooperation Agreement signed in September 2012, paving the way for oil production to resume this month.

Sudan and South Sudan have also agreed to create a demilitarised buffer zone along the tense 2,000km border. The inclusion of some areas in the Safe Demilitarised Buffer Zone has proved highly controversial, especially in South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal state.

The status of Abyei, which is claimed by both countries, has also not been resolved, with a vote delayed for over two years due to differences on who should be allowed to vote.

Ajak said security services were ready to prevent protestors from border communities or other groups intending to disrupt Bashir’s reception.

South Sudan’s deputy Interior minister, Salva Mathok Gengdit, said security forces have been deployed to strategic locations along all routes that the Sudanese delegation is expected to pass. A mobile group is ready to be deployed to contain any disruption, he added.

“The Central Equatoria State police, the city council police and the South Sudan National Police Service together with other organised force and security organs are now working together to ensure that the event of tomorrow passes off peacefully”, stressed the minister.

South Sudan’s coordinating team have confirmed that every single person involved in securing the convoy or serving the President’s entourage, including waiters and producers, have undergone security screening.

Only selected media houses have been accredited to attend and cover the presidential and ministerial level meetings. President Bashir is also expected to address a press conference after the meetings.

AU WELCOMES VISIT

Meanwhile, African Union Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma on Friday welcomed the Sudanese president’s decision to visit his South Sudan counterpart, saying she believes this visit will provide a further opportunity for the two heads of states to consolidate the progress made in their relations in recent weeks.

The meeting, Zuma said in a statement, should be used as an opportunity for the two leaders to address the remaining outstanding issues between them.

She however called on both sides to urgently to agree to the full implementation of the June 2011 Agreement on Temporary Arrangements for the Administration and Security of the Abyei Area, in particular as it relates to the establishment of the Abyei Area Administration, Abyei Area Council, and the Abyei Area Police Service.

The AU commission chief, specifically urged both countries to resolve the final status of Abyei, and in particular to agree to the composition and establishment of the Abyei Referendum Commission.

(ST)

Bashir’s visit to Juba

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir visited Juba on April 12 for the first time since South Sudan’s secession in 2011 for talks with his counterpart Salva Kiir. The two presidents failed to strike a deal on the issue of the contested Abyei region but did agree to implement previous agreements.

Storified by Sudan Tribune· Mon, Apr 15 2013 18:52:04