Sudan and South Sudan have struck a deal on how to share their oil wealth, one of a series of disputes that brought the rivals to the brink of war earlier this year.
“The parties have agreed on all of the financial arrangements regarding oil, so that’s done,” African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki said early Saturday after talks in the Ethiopian capital.
Sudan and South Sudan will also discuss a timetable for resuming oil exports through the north, Mbeki added.
The two countries had faced an August 2 deadline set by the United Nations to solve a long list of disputes ranging from border security to oil payments, and Mbeki said they would meet next month to try to find a compromise on the disputed region of Abyei.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began her first visit to Africa’s newest nation just hours after the U.N. Security Council deadline expired.
In July 2012, the UN Security Council has extended a peacekeeping mission in South Sudan for another year amid concerns that the dire economic situation in the country and tensions with neighboring Sudan could disrupt the region.
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was established in 2011 after South Sudan won independence in a referendum that came as part of a 2005 peace deal to end decades of civil war.
Clashes between the two countries earlier this year culminated in a 10-day occupation of Sudan's oil-producing border region of Heglig by South Sudan’s army, which sparked fears of a full-blown war. The occupation ended in late April after the UN Security Council warned both sides of potential sanctions.
UNMISS is composed of 5,884 civilian, 5,508 military and 376 police personnel and is headquartered in the South Sudan capital Juba.
