Sudan-South Sudan security pact - Afrique en Ligue

AU welcomes signing of implementation modality for Sudan-South Sudan security pact - The African Union (AU) has welcomed the signing of the implementation modalities for the security pact agreed by Sudan and South Sudan last December.

AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said in a statement received by PANA in Khartoum Sunday that she “welcomes the signing, in Addis Ababa on 8 March 2013, of the Implementation Modalities for Security Arrangements, at the Extraordinary Meeting of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism (JPSM)'.

The statement said the extraordinary meeting of the JPSM was convened by the AU High Level Implementation Panel, chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, and including also former Nigerian President Abdulsalami Abubakar.

“The signing of the agreement marks the conclusion of discussion on the implementation of the Agreement on Security Arrangements signed by the Presidents of South Sudan and Sudan on 27 September 2012,” it said.

It said the Agreement on Implementation Modalities consists of a detailed plan and timetable for the full implementation of all the elements of the Agreement on Security Arrangements.

The implementation agreement, signed by the two Ministers of Defence, Lt.-Gen. John Kong and 1st Lt.-Gen. Abdel Rahim Hussein, commits the two countries to a set of actions beginning on “D-Day”, Pana 10/03/2013, including unconditional withdrawal of all forces to their side of the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone (SDBZ) and the deployment of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM), with logistical support and logistical protection provided by the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

The two governments committed themselves to implementing these steps in an unconditional and coordinated manner.

According to the statement, the signing of the Implementation Modalities “removes the sole remaining obstacle to the full implementation of the nine Agreements signed by the two Presidents in September 2012”.

The statement quoted the AU chairperson to have said she had full confidence that the two governments will act accordingly and implement their commitments expeditiously and in good faith.

'The Chairperson looks forward to the convening, on Pana 10/03/2013, of the Lead Negotiating Panel (LNP), to consider the implementation matrix prepared by the AUHIP for the implementation of all the agreements.

Pana 10/03/2013