Sudan, S. Sudan leaders meet in attempt to resolve issues

PanARMENIAN.Net - The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan met Sunday, Sept 23 in Ethiopia, attempting to resolve -- under international pressure - issues arising from the latter nation's independence just over a year ago, CNN reports.

The creation of South Sudan stemmed from a referendum, agreed to by leaders in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, in which people in the southern part of the landlocked African nation voted for independence.

South Sudan formally became a new nation in July 2011, though significant issues with Sudan remain. Chief among them are the demarcation of the border between them, the possible creation of a demilitarized zone and the transportation and processing of oil from South Sudan, which got around 70% of the formerly united country's reserves when it became independent.

On Sunday, top officials from the two countries, including South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, met at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa in an attempt to bridge these differences.

Speaking from Ethiopia, Sudanese official Badreldin Abdalla said there had been "progress" in the talks, which were broken into different "clusters" reflecting the specific issues being discussed.

"They are going to have very substantive meetings to finalize the negotiations," Abdalla said.

At the United Nations headquarters in New York, Sudan's ambassador to the UN, Dafalla Al-Haj Yousif, likewise pointed to what he described as "good progress in all the issues discussed between the two parties."

Members of the delegations plan to talk with officials in their respective capitals, then to meet again soon to ideally move even closer to a final resolution, he said.

His South Sudanese counterpart at the United Nations, Francis Nazario, said his nation is committed to reaching an agreement in accordance with a UN resolution "and the African Union roadmap" - which lays out details for a possible final deal, including setting up a demilitarized zone along the two countries' border.