A top Misseriya leader announced an invitation from Sudan’s co-chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC) to convene a meeting of traditional leaders with the Dinka Ngok in Addis Ababa at the end of May.

The high-level meeting between the Dinka Ngok and Misseriya would be the first of its kind between the two sides since the killing of Dinka Paramount Chief Kuol Deng Kuol in May 2013. Dinka Ngok leaders previously demanded his killers be brought to book before any inter-communal dialogue takes place.

Hamad Al Dudo, the emir of the Mazaghna clan of the Misseriya tribe, confirmed to Radio Tamazuj Wednesday their readiness for the meeting with the Dinka Ngok. He said the meeting was supposed to take place in early May but was postponed due to the recent Sudanese elections.

On 30 March, the two AJOC co-chairs - who respectively represent the two sides - signed a document in Addis Ababa agreeing to “convene a traditional leader’s dialogue.”