Sudan, South Sudan committee to meet in Addis Ababa

January 16, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Joint Political and Security Committee (JPSC) between Sudan and South Sudan will meet on 3 February in Addis Ababa, said the African Union representative in Khartoum

The head of the African Union (AU) office in Khartoum Mahmoud Kan said an emergency meeting of the JPSC would be held on 3 February under the auspice of the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

He told the pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) that the invitation for the meeting has been handed over to defence ministers of Sudan and South Sudan.

The AU official pointed out that the meeting would discuss the implementation of the outstanding issues contained in the cooperation agreement signed between the two countries.

In September 2012, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others.

The two countries in March 2013 signed an implementation matrix for these cooperation agreements. However, the execution of the agreements didn’t go according to the plan.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan on July 9th, 2011 following a referendum on whether the semi-autonomous region should remain a part of the country or become independent. 99% of the southern voters chose independence.

Relations between the two nations soured after South Sudan’s independence following a series of disputes over a number of issues and accusations of support to rebel groups.

The African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) led by the former South African president Thabo Mbeki is brokering peace talks between the Sudanese government and SPLM-N.

(ST)