South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, agreed to develop cooperation and to have joint deployment in the border areas, including the contested Abyei.
Al-Burhan was on a two-day visit to Juba where he discussed with President Kiir and his first deputy Riek Machar ways to end the sticky issues in the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement. Before arriving in Juba he had a meeting in Uganda with President Museveni, the other guarantor of peace in South Sudan.
The two leaders, also, discussed bilateral relations and agreed that joint development projects in the 2000-km border areas are key to sustainable peace.
“As a starting point for this cooperation, Presidents Salva Kiir and H.E. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan agreed to set a model of peace through the development of unitized oil fields, including in the Abyei area, reads a joint communiqué released in Juba by the foreign ministers of the two countries.
“They have charged their respective foreign ministries to operationalize committees for cross-border development that will elaborate the details of this cooperation to rebuild the historic bridges between our countries,” further added the communiqué issued at the end of al-Burhan’s visit.
The communiqué did not provide specific details of where and how the joint force will be deployed in the oil fields.
It was not immediately clear whether the joint deployment, which has not been clarified, would include security forces to provide protection to workers or not.
Several senior officials at the South Sudanese presidency told the Sudan Tribune that details of the deal will be worked out by the technical committees from the two countries.
The two leaders used the opportunity to encourage the citizens of South Sudan and Sudan to make diversities a source of enrichment and strength for both countries.
The agreement comes following recent intercommunal clashes between the Dinka Ngok and Misseriya herders in Abyei where dozens were killed between January and March of this year.
Kiir and Burhan also agreed to revive ancient economic, political, and cultural cooperation that made Nile Valley civilizations prosperous as far back as the Kushite Kingdom, which unites our people in a common origin.
The communiqué points out that peace and security are prerequisites to socio-economic advancements, in the two Sudan and the Horn of Africa.
Joint command structures
With regard to the long-standing difference over the command structure and of the unified South Sudanese army, Burhan further used the opportunity to make a proposition aiming to break the deadlock between the main two partners of the revitalized peace agreement.
Besides President Kiir, he discussed the proposal with SPLM-IO leader and South Sudan’s FVP Riek Machar.
However, no statement was issued about Marchar’s position from the Sudanese proposal.
The SPLM-IO has demanded 50% -50% power-sharing in the command structure of the unified army in South Sudan as a prerequisite to graduating the joint forces that are in the training centres since late 2020.
