A trilateral summit including the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, and the President of South Sudan will be held soon in Juba, said press sources.
The summit comes in line with South Sudan’s attempts to ease military tension between Khartoum and Addis Ababa.
Bloomberg Asharq quoted South Sudan’s presidential adviser on security affairs Tut Gatluak as saying that Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Abiy Ahmed will soon visit Juba, separately, to discuss the border dispute issue with President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
The senior officials have earlier accepted his invitation to hold a tripartite summit to reach a political agreement in this regard.
Gatluak has been visiting Khartoum and Addis Ababa for several weeks now to persuade both sides to sit at the negotiating table.
He attributed the visits to his country’s concern about the heavy military deployment on the borders and a potential war that could affect his country, being part of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) bloc and an integral part of Sudan.
Burhan expressed readiness to sit and talk with Ahmed, Gatluak noted, adding that he also affirmed that his country does not want a war with Ethiopia.
However, the chairman of the Sovereign Council has set four conditions to resume these talks. These include the withdrawal of Ethiopian forces from the Sudanese territory, acceptance to mark the borders in accordance with the 1902 Agreement, the withdrawal of Ethiopian farmers from Sudan, and restoring control over the border area.
Ahmed, for his part, also set some conditions, including the withdrawal of Sudanese forces from the areas they reclaimed before starting any negotiations, Gatluak said.
Ahmed said he considers the Sudanese army that controls most of the Sudanese al-Fashaqa area an “occupation army, and its presence not desirable.”
The Sudanese government refuses to link the acceptance of mediation to the withdrawal of its army from border areas.
According to statements by Sudanese officials, Ethiopia must recognize the bilateral agreements signed first before discussing the conditions of Ethiopian farmers in its al-Fashaqa region.
Gatluak stressed that his team aims to bring together both sides to reach an agreement, according to the British map, instead of waging a destructive war.
