Two British diplomats met the governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal in Aweil on Wednesday to discuss the Addis Ababa agreements. Ambassador Alastair McPhail and Robyn Gwynn, the UK’s special representative for Sudan and South Sudan were recevied by Governor Paul Malong.
Under the agreements, the state must demilitarize a strip of land termed ‘Mile 14.’ The British government supports the agreements but has not backed one side or the other in their claim to Mile 14, also known as Samaha.
The former colonial power had set boundaries between the Rizeigat and Dinka Malual tribal homelands during the 1920s, which approximate the modern borders today between East Darfur and Northern Bahr el Ghazal.
“It is my first formal visit to see his Excellency Governor Paul Malong. This was to follow up on a number of issues we had already discussed,” McPhail said after the meeting.
“We have had an important meeting here today between our special representative and his excellency the governor,” he said.
The ambassador added that the purpose of the visit was “to come outside Juba to understand how people analyze events and the Addis Ababa agreements away from the capital.”
The governor had previously received British diplomat Rosalind Marsden, who is now serving as the European Union Special Representative to Sudan.
Marsden visited the state in October to clarify that “buffer zone is a temporary arrangement. It shouldn’t be confused with the determination of a final border between Sudan and South Sudan.”
Bombings by the Sudanese air force last month in the disputed area claimed the lives of six people and displaced about two thousand villagers.
Related coverage:
Photos: Kiir Adem bombing (29 November)
‘Mile 14 hardliners back down (3 November)
Additional photos here (UK Embassy Juba).