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    June 19, 2011

Sudanese Parties Deadlocked Over Abyei's Future

   Peter Heinlein | Addis Ababa
   Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (R) speaks with African leaders
   during talks in Addis Ababa, June 12, 2011
   Photo: Reuters
   Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (R) speaks with African leaders
   during talks in Addis Ababa, June 12, 2011

   North-South Sudanese talks on the status of the disputed Abyei border
   region are deadlocked nearly a week after negotiators announced they
   were near agreement. The parties have been stuck for two days over the
   wording of an agreement.
   Talks on Abyei's future ground to a halt Sunday at an Addis Ababa
   hotel, reviving fears of a return to war less than three weeks before
   Southern Sudan breaks away from northern rule.
   Separate talks on calling a temporary halt to fighting that is already
   raging in the Southern Kordofan border state also hung in the balance,
   with both sides said to be hardening their positions.
   Hopes for a deal that would have coincided with chief mediator Thabo
   Mbeki's 69th birthday were dashed on Saturday when negotiators could
   not agree on the wording of a sentence on how Abyei would be governed
   after the South's July 9 independence.
   Diplomats close to the talks say Mr. Mbeki waited impatiently on Sunday
   as a second scheduled signing date was cancelled. By the end of the
   day, frustrations reportedly were mounting as efforts to break the
   deadlock remained frozen.
   With the Abyei talks in limbo and the possibility of a humanitarian
   ceasefire fading, negotiators pushed ahead Sunday on two other tracks.
   But the negotiations on oil revenue sharing and dividing the country's
   massive debt were dogged by knowledge that failure to agree on Abyei
   would mean a collapse of the entire process.
   The glum atmosphere that hung over Sunday's talks contrasted with the
   optimism of a few days earlier, when Mr. Mbeki predicted a humanitarian
   ceasefire might be in place in South Kordofan within hours.
   As he opened the revenue and debt sharing talks three days ago, the
   former South African president spoke confidently of having all major
   issues settled at least 10 days before the South's independence. "So we
   should perhaps aim that at the latest by June 30; we will have this
   agreement on all of the issues that remain on our agenda," he said.
   The lack of an agreement on Abyei calls into question the need for a
   United Nations Security Council meeting on Sudan scheduled for Monday.
   Mr. Mbeki and U.N. special envoy Haile Menkerios are scheduled to brief
   the council through a videoconference hookup. Security Council members
   are are considering the creation of a new U.N. peacekeeping mission for
   Abyei.
   But diplomats say such a meeting might be premature in the absence of a
   agreement between the Sudanese parties on the region's future.
   The Addis Ababa talks began on June 12 with meetings between Sudanese
   President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and Southern leader Salva Kiir. Those
   talks resulted in what was described as an 'agreement in principle' on
   the demilitarization of Abyei. But that early optimism subsided after
   the two leaders returned home and left negotiations of the details in
   the hands of more hardline subordinates.