Mbeki seeks Sudanese talks at AU summit

Thabo Mbeki, Chief Mediator for Sudan-South Sudan peace talks has invited officials from Khartoum and Juba to resume negotiations in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa next month. Sudanese representative in the United Nations, Ambassador Dafalla al-Haj Ali, said that UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sudan and South Sudan, Haile Menkerios, had submitted a report to UN Security Council about negotiations between the two countries. Ali revealed that former South African Prime Minister Mbeki will ask heads of state Omar al-Bashir and Salva Kiir to hold a meeting during the African Union (AU) summit in March. South Sudanese Minister of Information Barnaba Benjamin has renewed his country's readiness for a new round of negotiations, and said that South Sudan remains keen to resolve contentious issues. Speaking to Arabstoday from Juba, Benjamin accused Khartoum of impeding the implementation of previous agreements and confirmed that his country is willing to turn the pages on the dispute with Sudan "once and for all." In a separate development, South Kordofan governor Ahmed Mohammed Haroun has accused South Sudan of being involved in the conflict in his state. Haroun said that "more and more" armed groups are entering South Kordofan from South Sudan, adding that smuggling of goods and materials is strengthening rebels in the border areas. Haroun said that South Kordofan is fighting on several fronts with South Sudan, which has plans to escalate military operations on the border with his country. He claimed that the Sudanese government would not offer more concessions for peace with the South, because they had already given away so much. Referring to a report by the Sudanese Media Centre, Haroun said that South Sudan relies "almost entirely" on goods and commodities coming from Sudan, adding that they get about "167 commodities by smuggling," including oil which is subsidy-backed by Sudan.