Sudanese and South Sudanese yesterday waited in cautious anticipation as presidents of the two countries began a summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The summit aims to overcome the obstacles that have slowed talks between the two countries, amid cautious optimism from the African Union mediators and international envoys as the negotiations deadline set by the UN Security Council passed.

Press reports from Addis Ababa suggest that Presidents Omer Al-Bashir and Salva Kiir held Sunday a three-hour meeting behind closed doors together with the top negotiators of the two sides, Pagan Amum and Idriss Abdel Gadir.

The talks have proceeded at a slow pace in this round of the negotiations, which is expected to be the final round of talks, according to the African Union Peace and Security Council and UN Security Council Resolution 2046. Although hopes for an agreement by the UN deadline have been dashed, negotiators remain in the Ethiopian capital together with the two presidents.

Mediators and international envoys are waiting for the summit to achieve a breakthrough in the security file which has posed an obstacle to the progress of the negotiations since the previous round. The mediation team was not able to put forward a proposal acceptable to both sides, with the most contentious border stretch being ‘Mile 14’ on the Darfur-Bahr El Ghazal border. The security map proposed by mediators was accepted by Juba but rejected by Khartoum.

Reportedly, the Sudanese delegation has finally changed their position slightly after receiving assurances from the mediators that the map proposing the buffer zones was temporary and for the purposes of reaching to an  agreement on the demilitarized zone and  has no connection to the final demarcation of the border.

South Sudan has suggested, for its part, that it will not compromise on the border map unless Sudan steps down on the Abyei issue or other disputed areas, according to observers.

Photo by Radio Tamazuj: Kiir and Bashir with entourage in Juba, January 2012