S. Sudan leaders to wrap up talks at summit in Ethiopia

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will hold a summit with his counterpart from South Sudan, Salva Kiir, in Ethiopia on Sunday to wrap up two weeks of talks to end hostilities between the African neighbors, state media said on Tuesday.         

Diplomats had earlier said the former civil war foes Sudan and South Sudan were coming close at talks in Addis Ababa to a border security deal that would allow the resumption of oil exports vital to the economies of both countries.                         

South Sudan seceded from Sudan last year under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war but the two have yet to resolve a litany of issues related to partition. Border clashes almost boiled over into full-scale war in April, although tensions have abated since then.                    

Bashir had agreed to accept an invitation from Ethiopia to hold a summit with Kiir in Addis Ababa on Sept. 23, SUNA said. It gave no details.               

South Sudan's chief negotiator, Pagan Amum, told Reuters he needed to confirm the summit date with the government in Juba but added he was optimistic that the meeting would take place.                    

The summit news came after a Western official said both nations had made much progress towards a broader framework agreement to end hostilities, as demanded by the U.N. Security Council by Septtember 22.


REUTERS