Sudan’s Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC) said they reject a plan by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to visit Abyei area through South Sudan.

In a meeting with the American Charge d'Affaires in Khartoum in the presence of the USAID representative in Khartuom, AJOC members said they reject any visit by the USAID delegation to Abyei area through South Sudan.

In a press Statement, Ali Hassan Nemir, the head of the AJOC committee said they briefed the American side on the security situation and communications between the Misseriya and Ngok Dinka tribes the area. He pointed out that the meeting touched on the need to provide aid assistance to all citizens in the disputed territory.

Ali urged USAID to play a big role aid in the area. He reiterated their readiness to provide assistance to the population in the area through legal means and procedures of the Foreign Ministry and through Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission.

Sudan continues to claim the area even though the Ngok Dinka population voted in a 'community referendum' in October 2013 to join South Sudan. The poll was not internationally recognized.