South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his Sudan
counterpart, Omar Al-Bashir, agreed at a summit in Juba on Tuesday to
speed up the demarcation of their common borders and the formation of
the Abyei administration, including the area's legislative council and
the police.
The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to
fully and unconditionally implement the nine cooperation agreements
signed in September 2012 in Addis Ababa.
Mr Kiir and Bashir resolved to speed up the
creation of a zero line along their common borders in order to establish
a safe border zone.
The two also agreed to campaign for Sudan’s debt relief and lifting of sanctions.
Trade
In a joint communique, Mr Kiir and Mr Bashir directed the central banks of the two countries to facilitate trade.
President Bashir visited South Sudan in response
to Mr Kiir’s invitation, for his second time after the independence of
the infant country on July 9, 2011.
After two decades of civil war, the former foes
are yet to resolve a package of post secession issues that include
border demarcation, the status of the disputed Abyei region, security
and oil flow, among others.
“I think the most critical issue that we have been
talking about, like Abyei, is one of the urgent things that we have to
address, and we know we will address it,” Mr Kiir said at a joint press
conference.
“We are ready to go the extra mile to make peace
with Sudan,” Mr Kiir told his northern counterpart and former civil war
foe Mr Bashir.
Tensions have been mounting over disputed Abyei, a
war-ravaged region wedged between the two countries and claimed by both
sides, with the African Union urging leaders to “seize the opportunity”
to find a deal.
Critical issues
But while Kiir said Abyei was the “most critical” issue discussed, little concrete progress was announced.
“The meeting with my brother Salva Kiir was
fruitful.... We will make sure all the outstanding issues are
implemented,” Mr Bashir said.
Mr Kiir warmly welcomed Mr Bashir.
The leaders, who were bitter enemies during the
two-decade civil war that led to South Sudan’s independence in July
2011, embraced as they met.
Abyei was meant to vote on whether to be part of
Sudan or South Sudan in January 2011 — the same day Juba voted
overwhelmingly to split from the north — as part of the 2005 peace deal
which ended Sudan’s civil war.
But that referendum has been repeatedly stalled, with residents now threatening to press ahead and organise their own vote.
The United Nations and AU have warned that any
such unilateral move could inflame tensions in the oil-producing zone
and risk destabilising the uneasy peace between the long time foes.
Many are gloomy for a quick resolution.
“I think there isn’t a solution in sight for quite
a long time,” a Western diplomat said, but added there was a need at
least to show some progress, “otherwise people get desperate.”
Abyei, patrolled by about 4,000 Ethiopian-led UN
peacekeepers, is home to the settled Ngok Dinka, closely connected to
South Sudan, as well the semi-nomadic Arab Misseriya, who traditionally
move back and forth between the two countries grazing their cattle.
“Both governments have important constituencies
that they need to pacify,” making the issue very difficult to solve, the
diplomat said.
Senior leaders of the Ngok Dinka said last week
they will organise and run their own referendum, saying international
efforts had stalled and there was “no light at the end of the tunnel”.
In response, Misseriya chief Mukhtar Babo Nimir
said the Dinka move must be blocked, warning that his people also have
the option of holding their own unilateral ballot.
The two leaders also agreed to abolish the entry
visas between the two states and allow the movement of the citizens
without any procedures by the beginning of the next year.
Implementation
Trade, security and oil issues were also on the
presidents’ agenda for the one-day visit, with more than 50 officials
including senior ministers and businessmen accompanying Mr Bashir.
The two leaders had met for talks in Sudan last
month, while Mr Bashir last visited South Sudan in April, his first
visit since independence and which followed a furious row over the
shutdown of crucial oil exports as well as bloody border battles last
year.
When South Sudan split away, it took with it oil
fields accounting for 75 per cent of the reserves — with production
totalling some 470,000 barrels per day — that Sudan used to call its
own.
Landlocked South Sudan complained that the north
was demanding too much to use its pipelines and port facilities, and the
shutdown cost both countries billions of dollars.
Battles along the two nations’ un-demarcated
border last year involving warplanes and troops then aggravated the
situation and raised fears of a return to the level of violence seen in
the 1983-2005 civil war.
International pressure eventually reined the two
sides back in, with leaders signing a raft of deals, most of which
however are yet to be implemented.
SOURCE: AFRICA REVIEW
SOURCE: AFRICA REVIEW
