{{The status of the disputed oil-rich Abyei region and the demarcation of borders will be the key items discussed when Sudan President Omar al-Bashir visits Juba on Tuesday for talks with South Sudan counterpart Salva Kiir.}}
South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the talks would generally cover the implementation of the nine agreements the two leaders signed in September 2012 in Addis Ababa.
This would touch on the organisation of a referendum on Abyei, and the demarcation of agreed-on borders between the two former civil-war foes, he said.
“Abyei will be one of the main issues in the agenda. There will be talks on Abyei and the borders,” Mr Makuei said.
African Union mediators have proposed the vote on whether Abyei should return to South Sudan, from where it was transferred in 1905, or remain in Sudan, be held this October.
But Mr Makuei admitted that as the two leaders meet, there was little possibility that the vote would be held on current timelines.
“Even if Bashir and comrade Salva agreed today, it will not be conducted because of the timeline … What is important is that we need the two parties to agree on the way forward,” he said.
Concerns have mounted on the level of mobilisation of the Dinka Ngok for the vote, with prospects that the may unilaterally decide to join South Sudan if the plebiscite is not held as proposed.
Push vote
Mr Makuei said his government policy is to push the conduct of the vote through the African Union.
Abyei and the borders are among the key post secession issues both countries are yet to resolve since the formal independence of South Sudan on July 9, 2011.
Eighty per cent of the borders have been agreed upon in paper, but the demarcation on the land remains unresolved.
“We are optimistic that with the visit of Bashir to Juba, there will be talks, and these talks will lead to opening of border corridors between the two countries,” Mr Makuei said.
The border corridors were agreed on in a September 3 summit in Khartoum and another memorandum on the matter was later signed by the country’s interior ministers.
The two leaders are expected to formalise the deal on crossing points.
The border demarcation will include the cross-border movement of nomads and goods.
NMG
Leave a Reply