PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Sudan, S/Sudan to resume negotiations on post-separation issues
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Sudan and South Sudan are expected to resume the negotiations that were interrupted earlier this month, in an effort to resolve outstanding issues following South Sudan's independence last year.
The official Sudanese news agency, SUNA, reported Friday that the head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), former South African President Thabo Mbeki, had sent official invitations to the parties to resume the talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 19 June.
The two sides left Addis Ababa 8 June after failed negotiations on border demarcation and the map that should be adopted to draw demilitarized zones, among other things.
Both sides have traded accusations on the responsibility for the failure of the talks.
The South said Sudan insisted on giving priority to security matters in the negotiations, followed by other economic and political issues.
For its part, Sudan said security issues were not pre-conditions but pre-requisite matters, and
accused the South of coming up with a map that annexed large areas of Sudan to the South.
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Al-Obeid Murawah told SUNA that the negotiations were scheduled to begin on 19 June at the level of the Joint Borders Committee to consider issues presented to the two parties, and then refer the observations and recommendations to the governments of the two countries.
He said the negotiations at the level of the Joint Political, Military and Security Committee are due start 21 June.
The AU has divided the remaining knotty issues between Khartoum and Juba into three areas: the border issues, the political and security issues, and the Abyei issue.
-0- PANA MO/SEG 15June2012
The official Sudanese news agency, SUNA, reported Friday that the head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), former South African President Thabo Mbeki, had sent official invitations to the parties to resume the talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 19 June.
The two sides left Addis Ababa 8 June after failed negotiations on border demarcation and the map that should be adopted to draw demilitarized zones, among other things.
Both sides have traded accusations on the responsibility for the failure of the talks.
The South said Sudan insisted on giving priority to security matters in the negotiations, followed by other economic and political issues.
For its part, Sudan said security issues were not pre-conditions but pre-requisite matters, and
accused the South of coming up with a map that annexed large areas of Sudan to the South.
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Al-Obeid Murawah told SUNA that the negotiations were scheduled to begin on 19 June at the level of the Joint Borders Committee to consider issues presented to the two parties, and then refer the observations and recommendations to the governments of the two countries.
He said the negotiations at the level of the Joint Political, Military and Security Committee are due start 21 June.
The AU has divided the remaining knotty issues between Khartoum and Juba into three areas: the border issues, the political and security issues, and the Abyei issue.
-0- PANA MO/SEG 15June2012
