Sudans agree on framework ahead of talks

Sudan and South Sudan have agreed on a general framework over their outstanding issues, prior to the resumption of negotiations on July 5, Sudanese Minister of Defense Abdul-Rahim Mohamed Hussein said Thursday.The two countries, at the conclusion of their most recent round of negotiations, agreed on a general framework to resolve the outstanding issues, Hussein, also Sudan’s chairperson of the joint political and security committee, told reporters. “We have agreed to form a joint mechanism for monitoring and investigation in the demilitarized zone and another emergency mechanism to receive the complaints and conduct investigation outside the demilitarized zone. The technical committees of both sides will go to Ethiopia again to discuss those issues,” he said.Sudan and South Sudan on Wednesday announced suspension of their talks after a week of meetings in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa without reaching understanding on issues including the border and determination of the zero line to demarcate the demilitarized zone.Xinhua Sudan and South Sudan have been negotiating in Addis Ababa under the mediation of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP), led by former President of South African Thabo Mbeki, on a number of outstanding issues including security, oil and border demarcation. The United Nations Security Council recently adopted a resolution demanding both sides to “immediately cease all hostilities, including aerial bombardments, and to “ unconditionally withdraw all of their armed forces to their side of the border.