A group of prominent leaders from former Warrap state has visited the disputed territory of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan on Tuesday, a traditional leader said.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, Bulabek Deng Kuol, Paramount Chief of the Ngok Dinka tribe, said a team of leaders led by Bona Malual and Francis Deng visited Abyei on Tuesday.

He pointed out that the visiting delegation discussed the future of the disputed region and assessed the destruction caused by the 2011 fighting.

Kuol further said the leaders also held a series of meetings with local residents. “They had a public rally in Abyei after a series of meeting s and they also toured the area and they said that they came to hear from the local population and to know their needs in the area,” he said.

Separately, several leaders of the National Congress Party (NCP) renewed their claims that the area of Abyei belongs to Sudan.

Speaking at a forum organization in Khartoum on Tuesday, Al-Dirdiri Mohammed Ahmed, a prominent NCP official, said Abyei has always been referred to as part of Sudan in all negotiations that they went to.

He blamed some Abyei elites for taking the case to the international scene.