Sudan and South Sudan broke off their security talks on Thursday this week after failing to agree on the question of a demilitarized zone along the border or reach any understanding on security issues. The talks had opened on Monday, co-chaired by Sudan’s Defence Minister, General Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, and his South Sudan counterpart, John Kong to discuss establishment of a joint border verification and monitoring mechanism and a border demilitarized zone. On Wednesday, South Sudan proposed setting up an extensive demilitarized zone. South Sudan’s Foreign Minister Nhial Deng said the proposal called for both sides to withdraw all forces 10 kilometers from the border on both sides. This would enhance the possibility of avoiding any prospect of conflict. A Sudanese delegation spokesperson, Omer Dahab, dismissed the idea, noting that the proposed zone would include the Heglig oil field, which Sudan had recovered after South Sudanese forces had temporarily occupied the area in April. He said that this would constitute, “legally speaking, a threat to use force and it is not helping us to reach this negotiated settlement to which we aspire." Sudan’s delegation declined a South Sudanese proposal on lifting the state of emergency on the border and restoring diplomatic representation. It said these issues were not related to the issue of security. The South Sudanese delegation acknowledged that there were difficulties facing the negotiation process but said it believed the Sudanese government was serious about trying to find a final settlement of the outstanding issues with South Sudan.
During the week, both sides continued to make allegations against each other. South Sudan’s chief negotiator, Pagan Amum, accused Sudan of keeping some national intelligence and security forces in Abyei’s oil fields and continued to accuse Khartoum of launching repeated air strikes on its territory, an accusation Sudan regularly denies. South Sudan also criticised Sudan for insisting on discussions on security before other issues, in defiance of the U.N. peace plan. Sudan officials denied making preconditions. Sudan accused South Sudan elements of trying to cause chaos in Abyei after the Sudan troops withdrew. A major point of contention between Sudan and South Sudan remains Khartoum’s accusations that Juba is supporting the SPLM-N, and Juba’s charges that Khartoum is supporting insurgents south of the border. Both deny the other’s claims. On Wednesday, the Governor of South Sudan’s Western Bahr El Ghazal state claimed that Sudan was carrying out air and ground attacks in an attempt to derail the international efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the differences between the two countries. Brigadier General, Rizik Hassan Zachariah accused the Sudan government of continuing to illegally occupy some areas of South Sudan. He denied the presence of any elements of rebels from Darfur, South Kordofan or Blue Nile in his area. It was Khartoum and not Juba that used proxies to fight its wars, Zachariah said. It is not clear when the security talks will resume though despite the lack of progress both sides have renewed pledges to end hostilities.
The AU High-level Implementation Panel has now officially invited Sudan and South Sudan to convene a meeting of the Abyei Committee later this month to focus on the security of the Abyei Administration and formation of the Area Council, the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee and the Abyei police force as well as other issues relating to the humanitarian situation, the return of IDPs and demarcation of the border in Abyei. The two parties have been given a three-month deadline by the United Nations Security Council and the African Union to conclude negotiations over citizenship, oil exports, demarcation of borders and the status of the Abyei region.
Meanwhile, an SPLM-N delegation also arrived in Addis Ababa last weekend. There was speculation that it might have come to talk to the Khartoum negotiating team, but SPML-N Secretary-General, Yasir Arman, firmly dismissed the possibility, insisting that the delegation, headed by SPLM-N Chairman, Malik Aggar, had come to discuss the humanitarian situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile provinces with officials from the United Nations, African Union and the Arab League, who earlier proposed a plan to secure aid delivery to rebel-controlled areas. The SPLM-N has accused the government in Khartoum of preventing foreign aid groups from delivering humanitarian aid to South Kordofan and Blue Nile where hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes since fighting broke out again last year. Sudan claims it has the humanitarian situation in these areas under control.
Source: A Week in the Horn – June 8, 2012 issue.
**********
Check the Sudan archive or the South Sudan archive for related posts.
