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| South-Sudan President: Salva Kiir |
Leaders from Sudan and South Sudan meet today for the first time in a year to discuss and agree on issues such as border security and oil deals so that South Sudan can start exportation of oil again, which is a lifeline for survival of both economies.
Wrapping up the two weeks of negotiations in Ethiopia, Sudan's President Omar Hassan al Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir with the African Union (AU) leaders who have been mediating ways bringing an end to fighting along the 1,800-kilometre (1,200-mile) border.
To avoid incurring U.N. Security Council sanctions, the two countries have to reach a comprehensive peace deal today, such a deal would provide both nations with oil revenues needed to avoid economic collapse although they must also sort out other issues left outstanding at secession back in July 2011.
Sudan, having insisted on reaching a security accord, the oil exports to be restarted according to the Interim deal reached in August from a landlocked South Sudan through Sudan to its Red Sea ports after Juba turned off wells in a row over export fees, had little or no effect.
South Sudan having seized an oilfield vital to Sudan's economy when fighting broke out April, a summit was due to taken place in Juba but was canceled due to the incident, however yesterday, Sudan conditionally accepted an AU-brokered agreement, already agreed by South Sudan, for a demilitarized border zone along the entire border.
Also expected to take place is the signing of deals by Bashir and Kiir which aim at boosting trade and granting citizens of both nations residency in the other country, which ends uncertainty of southerners stuck in the north.
South Sudan, populated by mostly Christians and animists, secede from the mainly Muslim north in July 2011 under a peace agreement that ended decades of civil war, this however left a long list of issues such as marking the border, fees for southern oil and ending accusations of rebel support unresolved in each other's territory.
The two Presidents are also expected to discuss solution for the disputed border region of Abyei, having failed to implement previous agreements over five disputed border areas.
No sign of progress was noticed in the indirect talks held in Addis Ababa between Sudan and the rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) which is fighting the Sudan's army in two areas bordering South Sudan, with each accusing each other support for rebels in the North and new republic.
(Edited by: Blueblock)
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