Negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan
The United States welcomes the upcoming talks between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Republic of South Sudan (RSS) scheduled to begin on January 17 in Addis Ababa on oil and other post-Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) issues under the facilitation of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). We strongly encourage both countries to engage in these talks in a serious and productive manner, which is in their mutual interest.
We are greatly concerned by recent Sudanese public threats and unilateral actions that impede the flow of oil from South Sudan, jeopardize the viability of the oil sector and increase tensions. The oil sector is vital to both countries’ livelihoods and neither state can afford a long-term disruption of income or damage to its reputation with international oil companies.
We urge both states to agree on commercial oil arrangements during the upcoming talks. The GoS should stop obstructing the flow of oil from South Sudan and refrain from taking unilateral actions that will complicate the negotiations. The RSS should pay a fair price for the use of the infrastructure. These arrangements should be based on common international practice for such costs, and not confused with the additional need for an agreement between the two parties on Transitional Financial Arrangements (TFA) that will ease the GoS’ decline in oil revenue in the wake of South Sudan’s independence. An agreement on commercial arrangements based on standard commercial terms could be conditioned on reaching agreement on TFA. For that reason we believe that the commercial talks should lead directly into TFA discussions.
We fully support the AUHIP’s November 2011 proposal and the principles on which it is based. It is in the interest of both parties to ensure that any agreed financial arrangements are implemented promptly to alleviate the GoS’ immediate fiscal gap. Additionally, we hope that arrears discussions will not negatively impact these negotiations. We believe that claims for disputed arrears should either be sent to an independent body for review or mutually forgiven, but in any case not pose an obstacle to prompt agreement on other oil sector issues.
The above suggestions represent one potential way forward; however, we would support another solution that is mutually acceptable to the parties and agreed and implemented in a reasonable period of time. We recognize that resolving these oil issues will also relate to the resolution of other issues outstanding between Sudan and South Sudan.
Therefore, the parties should also identify a time-bound process by which other post-CPA issues, including the status of disputed border areas and the final disposition of Abyei, are to be resolved.
We commend the efforts of the AUHIP in facilitating these negotiations and wholeheartedly support the AUHIP’s engagement. We encourage other international stakeholders to play a positive role in engaging with both states in the context of the AU process to help peacefully resolve outstanding issues and work toward the development of two viable states at peace with one another.
Phaedra Gwyn, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Embassy, Juba, South Sudan. 0912157323