UN chief Ban Ki-moon hails new border agreements between Sudan, S.Sudan

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday welcomed the agreement signed by Sudan and South Sudan, which aims to strengthen border security and lead to the permanent resolution of outstanding issues between the two countries.The signed agreement concerns “the establishment of a safe demilitarized border zone, the deployment of a joint border verification and monitoring mechanism and the activation of agreed security-related mechanisms as of 10 March 2013,” said a statement released by Ban’s spokesperson.Sudan and South Sudan on Friday signed the agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for translation into action of the security agreements reached on Sept. 27 last year, which is a key framework agreement for cooperation on security, the common border and economic relations.In Friday’s statement, Ban said there should be “no further conditions” in the way of immediate implementation of the Sept. 27 agreements, including the agreement on oil. The UN chief also reiterated the UN’s readiness to “support the operations of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism and assist the parties in the implementation of these agreements,” the statement said.The peace between the two countries has been threatened by armed clashes along their common border and outstanding post-independence issues that have yet to be resolved, notably the status of the oil-rich area of Abyei.