A meeting of the Abyei Joing Oversight Committee (AJOC) has been postponed for the third time. The Sudanese delegation apoligized to its Southern counterparts because of the deteroriating security situation in Abyei where the meeting was supposed to take place this week.
The head of the Southern delegation, Luka Biong Deng, said he is eager to proceed with the AJOC-meeting despite the escalating situation in the border region. He said his delegation wants to stick to the agreement Sudan and South Sudan made in Addis Abeba.
Deng finds the reasoning of Sudan to postpone the meeting not legitimate and argues that an executive committee should not be affected by ohter political issues between the countries.
Participants of the AJOC meeting were suppossed to discuss the presence and protection of Ethiopian troops in Abyei, the return of Dinka’s and the stay of Misseryan nomads in the region.
Deng announced the meeting will still take place without the Sudanese delegation. The South Sudanese police and delegation from South Sudan will discuss the issues concerning the Ethiopan forces in Abyei with the Ethiopian army commander.