Salva Kiir urges transparency in demilitarised border zone

April 23, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan president, Salva Kiir has urged international forces tasked with patrolling its demilitarised border zone with Sudan to be transparent when reporting whatever occurs in the area.

Kiir, while speaking at the opening of the country’s national assembly, said it is the responsibility of the United Nations Interim Security Forces for Abyei (UNISFA), to ensure any infringements of the zone, including aerial bombardments of South Sudan’s territory by the Sudan Air Force (SAF), are rightly reported.

UNISFA, as part of the Cooperation Agreement signed last year, will expand its mandate from the disputed region of Abyei to monitoring the whole demilitarised buffer zone along the 2,000km border.

Sudan and South Sudan were required to withdraw all troops along each other’s border from a 10-mile wide safe demilitarized zone, in compliance with last year’s security arrangement.

The president’s remarks come in the wake of continuous attacks allegedly carried out by SAF on its territories, which the Sudanese government has repeatedly denied. The young nation, on several occasions, threatened to refer the matter to the UN Security Council (UNSC).

The president, also commander in-chief of the army (SPLA), confirmed all armed personnel have been withdrawn from the dimilitarised zone, in compliance with the recent security deal it reached with Sudan.

“We now expect rapid progress on the resolution of the disputed areas along our border with the Republic of Sudan,” Kiir stressed.

ABYEI ISSUE

Kiir said South Sudan and its northern neighbour are yet to reach an agreement on the formation of a Council in the disputed Abyei region, after differences in its membership composition delayed the process.

He however assured the fully-packed assembly that an administration was to be formed in Abyei, adding that his Sudan counterpart, Omer Hassan Al-Bashir has also agreed pay arrears of profit earned from oil originating from the disputed oil-producing region.

Bashir, this month, visited South Sudan for the first time since the latter’s independence in July 2011, during which he held discussions with Kiir. The two leaders also agreed that their borders be opened and organised so as to improve trade and movement between the two neighbouring countries.

President Kiir is also due to visit Khartoum after being invited by his Sudanese counterpart. The meeting, at a date yet to be fixed, is expected to explore ways on how remaining outstanding issues can be resolved.

Meanwhile, the South Sudan leaders commended the country’s negotiating team for their efforts in “difficult” negotiations with Sudan, which he said resulted in the 8 March Implementation Matrix agreement.

(ST)