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20:06 GMT
NEW YORK, Oct 24 (KUNA) -- The UN Security Council on Thursday welcomed the
summit, presidents of Sudan Omar Al-Bashir and of South Sudan Salva Kiir held
in Juba on Tuesday, and their commitment to proceed expeditiously with the
establishment of Abyei Administration, Abyei Council and Abyei Police Service.
Council President Agshin Mehdiyev of Azerbaijan said in a press statement
following a Council closed-door session that the Council reiterated its "grave
concern" about the "highly volatile" situation in the disputed oil-rich Abyei
area and "urgently" called on all concerned to refrain from any unilateral
action that could heighten tension or impede a solution.
The Council also expressed support for the African Union Peace and Security
Council's decision to visit Abyei on October 26-27, and urged both communities
to use this visit as an opportunity to ease tension.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the Presidents' Summit and
their decision to accelerate the full establishment of the Safe Demilitarized
Border Zone (SDBZ) by mid-November.
He called on both countries to "urgently resume" their consultations on the
implementation of the 2012 African Union High-Level Implementation Panel
(AUHIP) proposal to determine the final status of Abyei, and called on Abyei
community leaders to refrain from any unilateral initiatives which could
increase tensions in the Abyei area.
The Summit in South Sudan's capital Juba was meant to resolve the issue of
the disputed oil-rich region and other pending issues that remained unresolved
since South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011 through a
referendum that was part of the 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of
civil war between Sudan's north and south.
That referendum was also meant to include Abyei, but was postponed
indefinitely due to disagreements over the process.
Al-Bashir said in Juba that both leaders will "make sure all the
outstanding issues are implemented". Kiir, on the other hand, said "we are
ready to go the extra mile to make peace with Sudan." (end)
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