Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon late Thursday welcomed Friday's Summit meeting between President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan and President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, convened by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, and urged both parties to urgently resolve their outstanding issues. "The Secretary-General encourages both Presidents to address decisively all outstanding issues between Sudan and South Sudan regarding security, border demarcation and the final status of the Abyei Area, to urgently activate agreed border security mechanisms, and implement all other agreements signed on 27 September 2012," his press office said in a statement. It added that the UN stands ready to support the parties in implementing their agreements and to assist in the resolution of all remaining disputes. South Sudan became independent from Sudan in July 2011.