Mbeki, Bashir discuss Sudan-South Sudan ties
November 5, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The head of the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Thabo Mbeki, has met with Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir on Wednesday.
Mbeki, in press statements following the meeting, described his talks with Bashir as “very successful”, saying they discussed several issues on top of which is the relation between Sudan and South Sudan with emphasis on the implementation of the cooperation agreements signed between the two countries.
He pointed that Bashir and South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, agreed to implement all cooperation agreements, saying they instructed the Joint Political and Security Committee (JPSC) to meet during this month to activate implementation of the security arrangement agreement and determine the demilitarized zone.
The AUHIP chief also said he discussed with Bashir the recent developments of the national dialogue, pointing the former underscored the need to continue efforts to make it a success.
“We know that the national dialogue assembly decided to authorised the [dialogue mechanism known as] 7+7 to negotiate with the armed groups to join the national dialogue,” he added.
Mbeki mentioned that he discussed with Bashir the economic issues and the outcome of his meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in Washington last September, saying he will soon tour several European countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom, to explain the critical economic situation in Sudan.
The state minister at the presidency, Al-Rashid Haroun, for his part, said that Bashir briefed Mbeki on the outcome of the visit of South Sudan’s president to Khartoum and their agreement to implement the cooperation agreements and activate the joint security mechanisms.
In September, the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPCS), entrusted the AUHIP and its chairman Thabo Mbeki with the midwifery role of Sudan’s national dialogue by brokering the security talks as well as an all parties conference in Addis Ababa to agree on a framework agreement for the political process.
In early September, the Paris Declaration forces comprised of the National Umma Party (NUP) and the rebel alliance of the Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF) and the 7+7 committee signed separate agreements with the AUHIP in Addis Ababa on the national dialogue and constitutional process providing that a comprehensive political agreement is the ideal option to end war and achieve democratic reforms.
(ST)