March 23, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The top negotiators from north and south
Sudan on Friday spoke of a new spirit in the discussions on
post-independence issues that have dragged on for years.
- Pagan Amum (left), chief negotiator from South Sudan, lead mediator for the African Union, Piere Buyoya (centre) and Sudan’s head negotiator Idriss Abdel-Gader, attend the end of African Union-led talks between Sudan and South Sudan in Addis Ababa on March 13, 2012 (AFP)
The Secretary General of the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM)
Pagan Amum at a radio forum in Khartoum said that the upcoming summit
between president Omer Hassan al-Bashir and his southern counterpart
Salva Kiir was a joint initiative made by the negotiating teams.
Amum, who is the chief negotiator for South Sudan, said this move
aimed to at changing the direction of talks and move the two countries
into a new phase that steers the two sides away from mistrust and
creates confidence that would allow for changing mentality from
"confrontation and clash" to partnership.
The SPLM SG said last week’s framework agreements signed on
nationality and borders was a "turning point" that was a result of
adjusting stances instead of staying entrenched in prefixed positions.
He went on to say that the two delegations started working as one team
by recognizing that the disputed items are joint ones.
Sudan’s lead negotiator Idriss Abdel-Gader that the two sides began
the process of mending ties in their meeting yesterday and agreed that
the media should refrain from reporting sensational stories on the
negotiations.
Abdel-Gader also revealed that there will be joint committees to
discuss trade after first ensuring the improvement of security situation
on the borders. He added that the interior ministers from the two
countries will review the status of citizens on the other side of the
borders.
Today Amum met with senior security officials in Sudan including
minister of interior Ibrahim Hamed, Defense minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed
Hussein and intelligence director Mohamed Atta in Khartoum to lay the
groundwork for the discussions by the interior ministries’ joint
committee.
Amum was joined by South Sudan cabinet affairs minister Deng Alor and justice minister John Luke.
The communiqué of the meeting said the discussions were frank and
candid with a genuine desire to reach comprehensive solutions.
The SPLM SG, who arrived on Thursday handed an invitation from Kiir
to Bashir to an April 3rd summit "with the aim of solving the pending
issues between the two states".
It would be Bashir’s first visit to the south since it separated last year following a referendum.
After months of failed negotiations, a dispute over oil fees and
mutual accusations of backing rebels on each other’s territory it is
hoped that last week’s accords would create a positive atmosphere going
forward.
When South Sudan gained its independence it took about three-quarters
of Sudanese oil production with it, but it has no facilities to export
the crude.
At the heart of their dispute has been disagreement over how much Juba should pay to use the northern pipeline and port.
(ST)
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