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African Union presses Sudan, South Sudan to seal deal by Aug 2
Sunday July 15, 2012 07:54:40 PM,
Manish Chand, IANS
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Addis Ababa: A day
after the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan met here, the
54-nation African Union Sunday asked both countries to honour the
Aug 2 deadline to resolve issues of territory, oil revenues and
citizenship and pressed for the emergence of two viable states
living in peace and harmony with each other.
"The relations between Sudan and South Sudan have shown some
improvement. The AU has taken the lead in resolving the crisis.
The African Union roadmap must be implemented," said Jean Ping,
the chairperson of the AU Commission, the principal executive body
of the AU.
He was speaking at the opening session of the heads of state and
government meeting in the Ethiopian capital, the headquarters of
the AU.
"The two countries must honour the Aug 2 deadline set by the AU
and the UN so that two viable states living in peace with each
other could emerge," he said.
Leaders from other African countries also urged the governments in
Khartoum and Juba to resolve their differences on oil and border
demarcation before the UN's deadline.
Ping was speaking a day after Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and
his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir Saturday met on the
sidelines of the AU summit in a hotel here and agreed to find a
way forward to resolve all outstanding issues.
This was the first meeting between the two leaders from Khartoum
and Juba since March, before Sudanese and South Sudanese forces
clashed over the disputed Heglig oil zone in April.
"Their statements persuaded us that there is good will," Ivory
Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who chairs the AU's Peace and
Security Council (PSC), told reporters after the closed-door
session.
"The two leaders are taking a new strategic approach to finding a
comprehensive solution to all outstanding issues between the two
countries," said Pagan Aman, South Sudan's chief negotiator, in an
interview.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been appointed as the
crisis mediator and will provide a progress report before the 2
August deadline.
The Sudan-South Sudan standoff issue figured prominently in
discussions at the PSC.
The PSC, the continent's premier body on security issues, called
for the finalisation of the agreements on payment of the oil
transit fees, the immediate demarcation of the north-south border
and the resumption of the two-party talks.
"The two parties have adopted the concept of strategic partnership
and the commitment to build on this mutually-beneficial
partnership," said AU's Commissioner for Peace and Security
Ramtane Lamamra.
The council also called for the completion of the talks and the
immediate re-opening of the north-south border to allow the border
communities to start trading with each other, key components of
post-conflict relationship between the two states which formally
split in July last year.
The two countries came close to an all-out war in April after
South Sudan attacked the oil-rich region of Heglig.
Asked whether there Sudan and South Sudan will face sanctions if
they fail to meet the Aug 2 ultimatum, Lamamra said it would be
speculative to imagine the parties would not have made progress by
that date.
The African leaders who attended the meeting of the 15-member PSC,
also asked the two sides to urgently convene a meeting to finalise
the formation of the Executive Council for the contested region of
Abyei.
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