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AU brokers urgent meeting between Sudan, S. Sudan

Xinhua, May 8, 2017 Adjust font size:

Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to hold an urgent meeting next Sunday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa to discuss outstanding issues between the two countries, Sudanese Media Center reported Monday.

"The two countries have agreed to hold the meeting, under the patronage of the AU High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), during the 14 and 15 of May," Mahmoud Kan, chairman of the AU liaison office in Khartoum, was quoted as saying.

"Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour will head Sudan's delegation for the meeting, while South Sudan's Information Minister Michael Makuei will head his country's delegation," he noted.

Kan said the meeting would discuss the outstanding issues between the two sides including the demilitarized zone, the Zero line and other joint agreements.

On March 8, 2013, Sudan and South Sudan signed a matrix deal in Addis Ababa to implement a previously signed security arrangement, which stipulates an immediate withdrawal of forces from the joint borders, along with establishing a safe demilitarized zone between the two countries.

The matrix also included other issues related to border demarcation and economy. But the agreements did not tackle the issue of oil-rich Abyei.

The border issue, which involves disputes over five border areas of Abyei, Dabatal-Fakhar, Jabel Al-Migainis, Samaha and Kafia Kanjim, has remained one of the biggest barriers to the settlement of differences between Sudan and South Sudan. Endit