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While Kiir arrived Saturday, Bashir was expected to land Sunday morning/AFP-File

Africa

Hope mounts for deal in Juba, Khartoum summit

The deadline was set after brutal border clashes broke out in March, when Southern troops and tanks briefly wrested the valuable Heglig oil field from Khartoum’s control, and Sudan launched brutal bombing raids in response.

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

While Kiir arrived Saturday, Bashir was expected to land Sunday morning, first meeting with Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, before meeting his counterpart for talks later in the afternoon.

In the bustling lobby of an upmarket hotel, a mix of delegates, diplomats, rebel leaders, technical advisors, journalists and wealthy tourists rubbed shoulders, as meetings continued late into Saturday night.

For once, the mood in these long running and often slow moving talks appeared positive, with both Khartoum and Juba apparently keen to end conflict and a mutually economically crippling stalemate over stalled oil production.

Chief mediator Thabo Mbeki, the former South Africa president, was seen busily shuttling between multiple delegations addressing issues of security, border demarcation, oil and finance.

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

“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 the time to rebuild our lives, to rebuild our nation.”

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