Sudan, South Sudan To Sign Deal On Outstanding Issues Under AU Mediation

The African Union mediation has set Sept. 21 as a date for Sudan and South Sudan to sign a deal on all outstanding issues between the two countries, Khartoum’s Al- Sahafa daily reported Thursday.

The African mediation has handed the two countries’ negotiating delegations a paper in which it set current Sept. 21 as a date for signing an agreement regarding all the outstanding issues between the two countries, the paper said.

In the meantime, the paper quoted Deng Alor, South Sudan’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs, as saying that “the African mediation has handed the two sides tables in which it set the issues to be discussed including the border, the status of the citizens in the two countries, Abyei, the oil and the economic issues.”

“The mediation has also set the period between 15-20 of current month as a date for convening a summit between Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit on the outstanding issues between the two countries”, said Alor, according to the paper.

Sudan and South Sudan have been negotiating in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa over many outstanding issues between them including the border demarcation, the oil and the disputed oil- rich area of Abyei under the mediation of the African Union High- Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP), headed by former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki.

Xinhuanet