A third meeting between the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya Ajaira has broken up without agreement on the issues discussed in the previous two.
The earlier conferences tackled the subjects of peaceful co-existence, setting up a committee to resolve any problems such as cattle raiding, the routes which Misseriya Ajaira herders take on their annual migration, and the site of a joint market.
The communities had issued a joint statement detailing these points, but no deal was reached on the issue of cattle routes.
The secretary of the Misseriya delegation, Al-Hadi Mohammed Akabash, said both communities were united in wanting peaceful co-existence.
But he said the written statement about cattle routes referred to ownership of the land in Abyei, and this was a political point which should not be included.
For the Ngok Dinka, the Alei clan chief Belbel Chol Akuei said the question of land ownership could not be avoided. Representatives of both communities said they hoped to reach agreement at another meeting on Thursday.
Reporting by Abyei Today