UN: Sudan-South Sudan willing to meet after border clashes calm

UN: Sudan-South Sudan willing to meet after border clashes calm

2012-03-29 19:49:41 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The governments of both Sudan and South Sudan have expressed willingness to meet later this week after border clashes have cooled down, United Nations (UN) officials said on Wednesday.

Eduardo del Buey, deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said the UN is still waiting for confirmed details about the border clashes, but that the situation appears to be de-escalating. He said both parties have stated their willingness to meet in the coming days in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to prevent a new eruption of violence.

"The Government of South Sudan committed to withdraw its forces to its previous positions," the spokesperson said. "The Government of Sudan agreed to attend a meeting of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism on 30 March in Addis Ababa, and stop the bombing if the South Sudan People’s Liberation Army withdrew."

Reports of armed clashes around the two countries' shared border region caused growing concerns over the situation. On Wednesday, the members of the UN Security Council expressed concern that the confrontation could threaten to reignite conflict between the countries, which were separated last year when South Sudan gained independence.

The UN Security Council also called on the governments to exercise maximum restraint and to peacefully address the issues that have fueled mistrust between them, including differences over oil, violence in the border region, citizenship and the dispute over the Abyei area.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has previously expressed his deep concern about these military clashes, urging both sides to utilize existing political and security mechanisms to the fullest in order to peacefully address their issues.

Del Buey also noted on Wednesday that Ban has urged both Heads of State to meet as planned at the April 3 summit, as there have been media reports that Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir has suspended his plans to attend the meeting with his South Sudanese counterpart, Salva Kiir.

More than 105,000 Sudanese refugees from the states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile have sought refuge in South Sudan. Another 30,000 refugees fled Blue Nile into Ethiopia.

South Sudan currently hosts the peacekeeping operation known as the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which is helping to consolidate peace and security and establish conditions for development there following the country's independence from Sudan in July 2011.

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