Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Ghandour said that the disputed territory of Abyei between the two countries belongs to Sudan.

"Abyei is a Sudanese territory and the issue is resolved by the decisions of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the African Union," Ghandour said in statements to the press at the National Assembly in Omdurman.

He pointed out that the 2005 peace agreement provides that the contested territory remains part of the north until the organization of a referendum determines its future.

Ghandour was reacting to statements made by his southern counterpart Deng Alor who was in Khartoum. During his visit to Khartoum city last week, Deng Alor who hails from Abyei told Al-Jareeda newspaper that Abyei belongs to South Sudan.