Bashir agrees to summit with South Sudan

The Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir has agreed to meet with President Kiir of South Sudan to continue negotiations this coming Friday. The invitations were made by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, according to official Sudanese media. Desalegn met with the two presidents in Khartoum and Juba to persuade them to resolve their differences and honour the peace agreement signed in September. Spokesperson for President Bashir, Emad Said Ahmed said the summit will speed up the implementation of what was agreed in September, when both heads of state signed a number of agreements. In a speech on the anniversary of Sudan’s independence, Bashir repeated his government’s keenness to establish good relations with South Sudan. President Kiir had said he would withdraw his troops from the shared border to start the process of deploying a joint monitoring mission to enforce the demilitarised zone. In a speech to celebrate the New Year, President Kiir said he is ready to meet with Bashir to discuss how to enforce cooperation agreements, stressing that withdrawing troops from the border would achieve peace and stability. It is worth noting that Juba has accused Khartoum of mobilising troops in North Bahr al Ghazal and Upper Nile states.