Author: Stephen Alexander – The government teams from Sudan and South Sudan ended yet another mediation without agreeing on a geographical map for a buffer zone on their common border. The African Union mediation team did announce a continuation of talks in the first week of July.

With defense ministers from each nation leading their delegation earlier in June, the efforts did not establish agreement on a security line for the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone (SDBZ). In fact, both nations and the African Union mediation team put three different maps on the negotiation table.

With disagreement rampant on the border dispute, Pagan Amum, the South Sudanese lead negotiator told reporters that the two nations agreed to maintain a positive tone that prevailed in the round. The next round hopes to resolve all outstanding issues between the nations, according to negotiator Amum.

Those outstanding issues include: border demarcation, the Abyei Area, and oil transportation fees. The Abyei Area is approximately a four thousand (4,000) square mile area in Sudan granted ”special administrative status” by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict in the peace agreement that ended the Second Sudanese War.

The need is urgent for the parties to speed up the negotiation process in order implement peace road-map which sets August 2, 2012 as the deadline for end of mediation.

The African Union mediation team said the talks will resume on July 5th so that the delegations can consult with the presidents of each nation, Salva Kiir Mayardit and Omar Al-Bashir.

Author: Stephen Alexander – An African Union (AU) mediation team stands accused of manipulating the proposed new map of the disputed regions in the Sudan – South Sudan border dispute. Specifically, the AU team allegedly added a new zone without Sudan’s agreement or informing their chairman of this addition, according to the president of Sudan, Omer Al-Bashir.

The president of Sudan said on Saturday that the nation rejects adding a buffer zone on the common border with South Sudan, unless it is based on the map agreed to when South Sudan got its independence.

The Sudanese President further stressed that some AU officials falsified the government’s position despite the objections by Sudan. He said that the two nations agree to four disputed areas on the map and this fifth area was added by the mediation team without their consent.

Prior to Al-Bashir’s statement, the South Sudan reportedly agreed to the mediation team’s proposed map. His statement included accusations of “treachery and treason.” He mentioned that the oil would not begin to flow from Sudan, until this issue was resolved.