Khartoum-Juba negotiation confirmed

The spokesman of the Sudanese delegation concerning South Sudan negotiations, Ambassador Badr Eddin Abdullah, said that the progress will continue regarding all issues related to the economic sector. He said that the framework agreements about these issues are being negotiated, and might be initialled. The final signature will take place at the end of the negotiations of this round, which is the final round of negotiations. There will be a comprehensive framework agreement which covers all open files concerning economic, security and border issues. Abdullah revealed the continuity of the dialogue about the border demarcation issue, and expects the next days to witness more activities concerning security. Regarding South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, he said that the presence of leaders among stakeholders from both states in Addis Ababa was an addition to the governmental delegation because of their explanation to all parties’ intersections and the dimensions of the conflict. He pointed out the presence of the US envoy Preston Lehman, the British envoy Robert Quinn and the EU envoy to Khartoum Rosalinda Marsden which comes near to the deadline for the application of the UN decision 2046. Abdullah said that the envoys were involved in meetings with the delegations of both countries since their arrival, in order to identify the points of views of each party about different issues and trying to approximate their opinions. This could be a way in pushing the negotiations forward which Abdullah believes will have a positive side. About the statements concerning Western proposals to intervene in the negotiations and establishing a buffer zone, the ambassador commented saying that Sudan’s position regarding any intervention in African mediation remains unchanged. This means that the high level African mechanism led by Thabo Mbeki is to mediate and facilitate the negotiations between both countries. On the other hand the delegation of the popular movement of the north, which left the negotiation headquarters in Addis Ababa, started the meetings in the United States. The delegations include the head of the movement Malik Agar (former governer of Blue Nile), his deputy Abdul Aziz Adan Helou (governor of South Kordofan) and Secretary General Yasser Arman. During the meetings in the US, Arman demanded an urgent comprehensive solution and said that the visit of the movement’s delegation to the US was planned some time ago. He added: “Luckily Sudan’s issue is clear and supported by the democrats and republicans we met. During this visit we managed to meet the officials we were looking forward to meet in all US decision making bodies. We exchanged views with important authorities about the Sudanese issue and achieving peace. We focused on humanitarian issues and on the importance of reaching a comprehensive solution and not only a mutual agreement within the current negotiations.” He added that Sudan needs a new policy and a new path after the split from the south last year. An anonymous governmental source said: “The visit of the delegation of the north popular movement to US, in a time where negotiations are taking place, confirms that the movement is linked to external bodies, and don’t want to reach an agreement because these external bodies are pushing the movement towards taking hostile positions, therefore they bet on the continuity of the foreign pressure and international intervention in Sudan.”