Citizens of the disputed border area Abyei are organizing demonstrations rejecting the agreement signed between Presidents Omar al-Bashir and Salva Kiir in Addis Ababa late last month.

The agreements reached in Addis Ababa resolved outstanding issues between the two countries including oil and nationality issues, but not the status of Abyei.

A number of young people and traditional chiefs organizing the demonstrations said that the demonstrations and marches will start next week, in protest against the exclusion of the Abyei issue from the agreements.

The African Union High Implementation Panel, which officially mediates the talks, agreed to postpone a solution to the Abyei dispute until another round of talks. The issue will also be referred to the African Union Peace and Security Council.

Citizens of the region are displeased that resolution of the conflict has been postponed repeatedly. They announced their rejection of the agreement between Sudan and South Sudan, which does not include the issue of Abyei, and accused the governments of the two countries of inattentiveness to reaching an agreement on economics and security for their region.

One observer noted that the referral of the case to the AU Peace and Security Council will merely delay resolution, and stressed that the International Court of Arbitration in the Hague had already dealt with the issue, as well as a June 2011 agreement on temporary security arrangements.

Mr. Kual Alor Makwej said that their voices have to be heard through the protest, and asked for support to organize marches and work with civil society organizations, to put pressure on the two parties to resolve the issue, and made it clear that procrastination in resolving the crisis contributed to the instability of the citizens of the area, and turned them to be displaced permanently.