North and South Sudan to Continue Negotiations After Secession

By Jack Phillips
Jul 4, 2011

Northern and Southern Sudan decided on Monday to keep the discussion alive regarding the disputed region along the border after the south becomes officially independent on July 9.

On Saturday, southern Sudan is will become its own separate country. However, the two sides have yet to agree to the fate of the disputed oil-rich Abyei region, where fighting has been taking place, as well as how to divide up oil revenues

The announcement was made in a six-page communique from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The communique "calls upon the [African Union] High Level Implementation Panel to continue its engagement with both parties in order to resolve all these issues" after Saturday’s independence.

The six-nation group held talks in Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa on Monday, which were attended by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and the south’s Salva Kiir.

Sudan has been under international pressure, especially from the United Nations, to resolve these issues before the official split. Last week, the U.N. voted to send thousands of Ethiopian peacekeepers Abyei to ensure that northern troops pull out.

During last month’s violence, hundreds were killed and tens of thousands of locals fled the region.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/north-and-south-sudan-to-continue-negotiations-after-succession-58643.html.