March 6, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - The Joint Political and Security Committee (JPSC) between Sudan and South Sudan will discuss mainly the buffer zone, the disengagement and the harbouring of rebel groups, Sudanese defence minister said on Wednesday.
Delegations from Sudan and South Sudan are expected to resume talks Thursday in Addis Ababa to discuss the implementation of Cooperation Agreement. In the same time, the JPSC will hold a meeting on the implementation of the security arrangements.
Sudan’s defence minister and head of JPSC Sudanese side, Abdel-Rahim Hussein, said in statements to the Sudan TV before to depart Addis Ababa that he goes with an open heart and mind, given that the signed agreements are enough to repair relations between the two countries.
The minister further expressed hopes that the coming round of talks can overcome the obstacles that hampered the previous rounds of talks.
He reiterated Sudan’s commitment to all the agreement signed by the two countries in September 2012.
Tensions escalated recently on the common border between the two countries after different reports about troops build-up from both sides.
Also, Khartoum renewed its accusations against Juba, speaking about direct military support to the Sudanese rebels while Juba signals air attacks inside its territory.
Abdel-Rahim before to leave Khartoum held a rare meeting on Wednesday with the former presidential adviser Mansour Khaled who seeks to facilitate a compromise between the two countries.
Khaled who was a former adviser to Salva Kiir and a member of the SPLM political bureau before the secession was in Juba recently to discuss the differences between the two countries over the pending issues.
On the other hand, the Sudanese negotiating team, led by Idriss Abdel-Gadir arrived on Wednesday to Addis Ababa where it is expected to hold a meeting with the South Sudanese delegation headed by Pagan Amum to discuss the implementation of the cooperation Agreement.
Sudan, which says that implementation of the security arrangements should be done first, demands Juba to disengage with the SPLM-N as provided in the 2005 peace agreement, but Juba at different times said it had cut ties with the Sudanese rebels.
On the buffer zone, Sudan first proposed to extend the demilitarised area on the common border to include Blue Nile and South Kordofan, but Juba refused this idea. After what, The Sudanese army said Juba refuses to pull out its troops from the disputed area of Mile 14.
(ST)