Joint political-military teams representing Sudan and South Sudan agreed on three of five agenda items in talks that closed on Wednesday. The countries’ defense ministers described the talks as successful steps toward carrying out the Cooperation Agreement signed in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia late September. 

The talks from Saturday to Wednesday represented the launch of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism (JPSM) established under the Addis Ababa agreement. The body is co-chaired by the ministers of defense. Secretariat sittings began Saturday and Sunday and then the committee meetings began Monday after the arrival of the Sudanese Defense Minister, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein.

Addressing the press on Wednesday, the South Sudan Defense Minister Hon. John Kong Nyuon stated that the JPSM had set five agenda items and reached agreement on three of them.

Nyuon said that the committee decided on “operationalization of the safe demilitarized border zone.” This apparently means that soldiers will withdraw from along the border.

He added that the second point of agreement was “operationalization of the mechanism JBVMM [Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mission] and the ad hoc committee.” The latter body is a sub-committee of the JPSM with the purpose of receiving and investigating accusations by one country against the other.

Thirdly, the committee members “reaffirmed their commitment… to every aspect of all the agreements including the provision … on non-aggression.”

Nyuon however acknowledged cited that the discussion of the Joint Security Mechanism could not continue to finish all the items on the agenda and referred the remaining items to the next round of the meetings that will take place in Khartoum, Sudan. It was not noted what the remaining agenda items are, but they may relate to the issue of SPLA-North and other armed groups operating in border states.

Abdel Rahim, for his part, asserted that the committee will continue its meetings in Khartoum to conclude all unresolved items in order to ensure political, security and economic stability between the two counties.

He added that the implementation will create safe space in relations, interaction of citizens, and will tie the people of the two countries. 

“We have been discussing and concluded the meeting with some challenges on other items, but we believe in political will that, the effort of the two presidents of Sudan and South Sudan will ensure the full implementation of all pending issue to reach a final deal,” said the Sudanese minister.

The date of the next meeting will be fixed by the co-chairs. 

By Denis Dumo for the Juba Post; used by permission.

Photo: Abdel Rahim Hussein (right), Sudan's minister of defense, and his counterpart John Kong Nyuon at New Sudan Palace Hotel in Juba on the afternoon of 7 Nov. 2012 (Juba Post/Denis Dumo)