Bashir receives message from South Sudan’s Kiir on bilateral relations
September 20, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s First Vice-President and Prime Minister Bakri Hassan Salih Wednesday received a written message from South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit to Sudan President Omer al-Bashir.
The official news agency SUNA also said Salih received a message from South Sudan Vice-President Taban Dang, pointing the two messages pertain to ways to promote bilateral relations to serve interests of both peoples.
The two messages were handed over during a meeting between Salih and the visiting South Sudan’s delegation headed by the security advisor to President Mayardit, Tut Kew Gatluak in the presence of Sudan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment Mubarak al-Fadil al-Mahdi.
In a press release following the meeting, al-Mahdi said Salih was briefed on the economic talks between the two countries, stressing the need to reach agreements on economic issues pertaining to oil and border trade.
He also pointed to the importance to agree on the issue of the border crossings, saying it is crucial to open the River Nile crossing to ease the movement of commodities between the two countries.
For his part, Gatluak said they came to Khartoum to sign the economic cooperation agreements between the two countries, saying South Sudan is committed to implementing the agreements which will be signed with Sudan.
He announced that President Mayardit will visit Khartoum during the coming period to discuss the outstanding issues between the two countries.
Last July, South Sudan Foreign Minister Deng Alor announced that President Mayardit will visit Khartoum in August, however, the visit didn’t materialize.
South Sudan seceded from Sudan on July 9th, 2011 following a referendum on whether the semi-autonomous region should remain a part of the country or become independent. 99% of the southern voters chose independence.
Relations between the two nations soured after South Sudan’s independence following a series of disputes over a number of issues and accusations of support to rebel groups.
(ST)