March 31, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Representatives of north and south Sudan are due to meet on Saturday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to resume talks on arrangements to bifurcate the country after a short hiatus in the AU-mediated negotiations as tension between the two sides flared up earlier this month.

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who chairs the AU High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP), addresses a meeting in Khartoum on July 10, 2010. (Getty Images)

A statement released by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP), which is moderating the talks, said that the two sides would embark on a new round of negotiations in Addis Ababa in order to discuss proposals put forward by the mediators to resolve the stalemate over the contested oil-producing region of Abyei.

Abyei region, which straddles north and south Sudan, is a key point of contention in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which in 2005 ended nearly half a century of intermittent civil wars between the two sides and provided for the conduct of a referendum on the south’s independence in January this year.

The plebiscite resulted in a landslide vote in favor of south Sudan secession from the north and the south is expected to formally declare independence in July this year.

The status of Abyei was supposed to be determined via a referendum in January but disagreements between north and south Sudan leaders over the right of eligibility stalled the vote, fueling tension and clashes in the region ahead of the migration season during which the north-backed cattle-herding tribe of Messiriya overlap with the south-aligned tribe of Dinka Ngok.

In the previous round of talks, which collapsed briefly earlier this month as tension escalated between the two sides following several clashes between south Sudan and militias it accuses the north of supporting, the two sides agreed to cooperate to seek relief of Sudan’s external debts of 35.7 billion dollars as well as facilitation of trade, division of oil sector firms and introduction of a new currency in the south.

Sudan Tribune has learned that delegation from the north’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the south’s dominant Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) are expected to depart for Addis Ababa on Friday afternoon to embark on the talks which are also expected to tackle a host of other issues, including security arrangements, sharing of oil revenues and Nile Water.

The NCP delegation will be led by the state minister at the Presidency of the republic, Idriss Mohamed Abdul Gadir, as well as Said al-Khatib and a number of economy experts.

According to Sudan Tribune’s sources, the two sides also intend to discuss the demarcation of borders and re-deployment of north and south Sudan’s armies to their respective territories ahead of the expiration of the CPA in July as well as the future of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)

North Sudan officials said that the mandate of UNMIS would be terminated in the north by the end of the CPA’s interim period in July 2011, whereas UNMIS chief Haile Menkerios said last month the South indicated it would welcome UN engagement to consolidate peace and capacity building of for the new state.

The nearly 10,500-strong peacekeeping force UNMIS was established in 2005 to ensure compliance of north and south Sudan with the provisions of the CPA. The mission recently intensified patrolling of Abyei region following recent clashes between local tribes and south Sudan police.

(ST)