Sudan, South Sudan agree to resolve dispute on Abyei area

JUBA – South Sudan government and its Sudanese counterpart have agreed to resolve the years-long dispute on the disputed region of Abyei days after chairman of Sudan Sovereign Council to deploy troops into the disputed areas.

In a speech to members of the Sudanese armed forces in the capital Khartoum on Monday, Sudan threatened to redeploy troops to areas it disputes with South Sudan as well as its northern neighbor, Egypt.

Speaking at an event in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Tuesday, South Sudan vice-president Hussein Abdel Baggi called for conduct of a referendum in Abyei to decide on the fate of the area which is inhabited by the Ngok Dinka and Messeriya tribes.

“We want to implement the opinion of the people of Abyei, whether they joined South Sudan or Sudan because we want to achieve complete stability in Sudan,” he said.

“Until December, we want to achieve peace in Abyei and peace in Sudan,” he further said.

For his part, deputy chairperson of Sudan’s Sovereign Council General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo who is better known as ‘Hemetti’ hailed the efforts of the South Sudanese government to achieve peace in Sudan and vowed to launch a process on Abyei at the end of the current peace process.

“The solution to the Abyei crisis is a priority for us. God willing, after the end of the peace process, we will form our committees and start directly on the Abyei issue,” he said.

Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that allowed South Sudan independence, the residents of the Abyei Area should decide whether they want to join South Sudan or to remain in Sudan.

However, the two sides failed to determine who is eligible to take part in the vote.