The Minister of Cabinet Affairs in South Sudan, Deng Alor Kuol, said the two Sudans have agreed to hold a referendum on the disputed Abyei region, but they continue to differ on the definition of who will be allowed to cast a ballot.

In an interview with the London-based Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper, Deng Alor said that his country’s position is to deny the vote to all herdsmen who enter the region only seasonally, including Misseriya of South Kordofan State, Dinka Malual of Bhar El Ghazal State, and Dinka of Pariang of Unity State.

The poll would belatedly fulfil the terms of the Abyei Protocol of 2004 which gave the region the right to vote to join South Sudan or remain part of Sudan. The protocol formed part of the 2005 peace deal between Khartoum and the Popular Movement.

The Abyei Protocol defines residents of the Abyei Area as “the Members of Ngok Dinka community and other Sudanese residing in the area.” It tasks the Abyei Referendum Commission, which has never been formed, with ‘working out’ the criteria of residence.

Alor said that South Sudan favours entitling the vote to only people who belong ethnically to one of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms, or who permanently reside in Abyei including Misseriya businessmen and employees living in Abyei town. He said the United Nations would oversee the referendum and it would be carried out before the end of this year.

For its part, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry announced through a spokesman that all paths are open to negotiation in Addis Ababa. Ambassador Al-Obaid Marwah described the atmosphere of the negotiations as positive and renewed his country’s position that any agreement on oil would be implemented only after an agreement on security issues.