Sudan, Juba talks to resume

The Chairman of African Union High- Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP), Thabo Mbeki, has announced that Sudan and South Sudan would resume negotiations on outstanding issues next week in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Khartoum’s Al Sudani daily reported Wednesday.The paper quoted Mbeki as saying that he agreed with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit that the two countries’ delegations would meet in Addis Ababa next week to look into all points related to the decisions adopted by the African Union and the United Nations Security Council.Mbeki expressed hope that the negotiations would resume soon after the meeting of the two delegations next week, saying that all issues of difference would be included in the agenda, according to the report.Sudan and South Sudan have negotiated in Addis Ababa on a number of outstanding issues, including security, oil and border issues, but the negotiations ceased because of recent armed clashes between the two countries’ armies at the oil-rich border area of Heglig.The African Union Peace and Security Council on April 24 issued a resolution in which it asked the UN Security Council to support its demands for Sudan and South Sudan to stop hostilities within 48 hours, resume negotiations within two weeks, and complete the peace agreement in three months.On May 2 the UN Security Council adopted a resolution demanding Sudan and South Sudan to “immediately cease all hostilities, including aerial bombardments, with the parties formally conveying their commitment in this respect to the chairperson of the African Union Commission and the president of the Security Council not later than 48 hours from the adoption of this resolution.”The resolution further asked Sudan and South Sudan to “unconditionally withdraw all of their armed forces to their side of the border, in accordance with previously adopted agreements.”