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The map of Sudan/FILE

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Hopes mount for deal as two Sudan, leaders meet

UN leader Ban Ki-moon has called on the leaders to tackle their remaining differences, “so that their summit concludes with a success that marks an end to the era of conflict.”

— ‘Time to rebuild’ —

For once, the mood in these long-running talks appeared largely positive, with both Khartoum and Juba apparently keen to end conflict and a stalemate over stalled oil production that is crippling both their economies.

While the two leaders have met several times in recent months, delegates said there was a real sense some form of a deal was possible.

“There does seem a genuine move towards finding a broad solution, even if technical issues and details will certainly need fixing in future meetings,” a Western diplomat said.

“We are not going to go back to fighting each other, we know the cost of that after 50 years of war,” said the South’s spokesman Kiir. “It is time to rebuild our lives, to rebuild our nation.”

“We are not going to go back to fighting each other, we know the cost of that after 50 years of war,” said the South’s spokesman Kiir”.

But delegates are also acutely aware that both sides have signed multiple deals in the past, including agreement on demilitarised border zones that were never fixed, and non-aggression pacts scuppered by subsequent clashes.

“Reaching a deal is one thing, implementation is another,” the Southern spokesman added.

A comprehensive deal — as opposed to another stepping-stone agreement — would have to include settlement on Abyei, a Lebanon-sized frontier area claimed by both sides and currently controlled by Ethiopian peacekeepers.

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But amidst the diplomatic optimism, there seemed Sunday little chance of a breakthrough to solve the growing humanitarian crises in Sudan’s civil war states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

However, it was hoped the summit would settle the details of last month’s deal to fix the oil export fees that landlocked Juba will pay to ship crude through Khartoum’s pipelines to the Red Sea.

At independence, Juba took with it two-thirds of the region’s oil, but processing and export facilities remained in Sudan. In January, the South shut off oil production after accusing Sudan of stealing its oil.

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