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Sudan delays Abyei meeting ahead of referendum

by (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. Click For Restrictions. http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Tuesday, 26 October 2010 11:43 GMT

KHARTOUM, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Officials from north and south Sudan have postponed a meeting intended to resolve the status of the country&${esc.hash}39;s oil-producing Abyei region ahead of a referendum on its future.

The Oct. 27 talks in Addis Ababa, to be chaired by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, had hoped to address the status of Abyei, which is scheduled to decide next year whether to join north or south Sudan.

The vote on Abyei, which straddles the border between north and south Sudan, is due to be held on Jan. 9, 2011, the day southern Sudan votes on whether to secede from the north.

"Because we are still involved in the process of preparing for that, the meeting will certainly not take place on the 27th," Mbeki said late on Monday after meeting President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Mbeki hoped the talks happen soon.

Mbeki&${esc.hash}39;s comments made clear that despite a visit from U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry last week, no agreement was reached on how to move forward with the Abyei vote.

One Sudanese official, who declined to be named, said north and south Sudan, which signed a peace deal in 2005 ending Africa&${esc.hash}39;s longest running civil war, could not reach a compromise on Abyei.

Failure to agree such a compromise will raise concerns of unrest ahead of the southern referendum, which most analysts expect to result in secession.

Abyei&${esc.hash}39;s administrator has rejected a U.S. compromise to split Abyei in two with north and south each taking a section.

Ruling parties in north and south disagree on who will lead the commission to plan the Abyei vote and on who will be allowed to vote in the plebiscite.

(Reporting by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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