South Sudan: Bashir in First Tour of South Since Split

By Staff Writer

JUBA--Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has made his first ever official visit to South Sudan since it became independent in 2011.

President Bashir is in the south to discuss territorial disputes and border demarcation with his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir in the matters that remain unsettled under a recent peace deal set to end decades of conflict between the two neighbour states.

Bashir was warmly met by Kiir and members of the Juba government at the airport in the southern capital of Juba, as the entire city remained under tight security ahead of his tour on Friday.

Sudan’s information minister Bala Osman said that President Bashir’s tour of the south is aimed to demonstrate Khartoum’s good will and determination to implement the peace deal and strengthen relations of both nations.

 Bashir’s visit to Juba "aims to break down the barrier of distrust and show (Khartoum’s) political determination to implement what has been agreed by the two countries", Osman told reporters in Khartoum ahead of the visit.

The two leaders are expected to hold talks on the issue of the disputed Abyei region, and possibly set date for the referendum on the region that is part of the issues that remain unresolved since South’s secession.

Oil-rich Abyei is the most intractable of a raft of issues north and South Sudan are struggling to negotiate. Residents of Abyei are yet to vote in a referendum on whether to join north or south, but delays over voting rights of communities have hindered the process.

Fighting along the disputed border and an oil transit row nearly brought the two countries to brink of war last year, prompting calls by the African Union (AU) to negotiations that saw an eventual deal in September.

Both sides have since agreed on a demilitarised border buffer zone, and a recent deal brokered by AU last month has seen resume of oil production.

Both countries heavily depend on the oil revenue and lack of the crude last year saw introduction of austerity measures following soaring inflations and shortages of foreign currency in the two neighbour states.

South Sudan took most of the oilfields after independence, but requires Sudan’s pipeline to transport its crude to ports in the north for export.