New round of security talks

The Sudan-South Sudan Joint Political-Security Committee is expected to resume talks tomorrow Thursday, in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Informed sources say the intention behind strong emphasis by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) on the urgent need to quickly reconvene the talks, is to bring about notable progress in security files in time for the next African Peace and Security Council meeting expected later this month.

These sources point out a growing trend for holding a meeting at the level of heads of state. The meetings are scheduled to run for two days, with expectations that the supervisory committee for Abyei will meet simultaneously, or two days after the political-security sessions.

We hope that the two parties will- this time- enter into negotiations with a heightened sense of responsibility and a strong political will to avoid repeating outcomes of  earlier meetings which made little or no difference on the course of negotiations. Significant progress is needed in this round, to pave the way for final solutions for all other pending issues.

It is plain to see by now that the main obstacle in negotiations is the security file; particularly the relationship between South Sudan and the SPLM-N, with the government of Sudan reiterating its position that the South Sudanese government must disengage with the rebel SPLM-N. Meanwhile, the African Union has been urging the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N to begin direct negotiations supervised by the AUHIP; accordingly, we also hope that all these particular complications will be included and that the obstacles can be surmounted for the good of all parties. 

The current talks may well be the last opportunity for a final solution for the problems facing the two countries. Failure will likely take the two sides back to square one; war, an option from which neither stands to benefit and one that could pose a threat to the very existence of the two countries. The two sides are well advised to fully take this into account, and hopefully the existential threat may translate panic into goodwill.