Sudan, South Sudan to Create Demilitarized Border Zone

President Omar Hass al-Bashir of the Republic of Sudan at a signing agreement with President Silva Kiir of the Republic of South Sudan where former President Thabo Mbeki mediated. The two oil rich states partitioned in 2011., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

March 9, 2013, 1:27 a.m. ET

Sudan, South Sudan to Create Demilitarized Border Zone

By NICHOLAS BARIYO

KAMPALA, Uganda—Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to create a demilitarized zone along their poorly defined border within a week, in the latest push aimed at restarting transit crude shipments from the south, the African Union said late Friday.

The two former civil-war foes are expected to start withdrawing troops to allow the creation of a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile)buffer zone along the oil-rich border on Sunday, completing the exercise by Friday, according to the AU.

The creation of the buffer zone is a condition for the resumption of South Sudan's 350,000 barrel-a-day oil shipments, which were halted in January last year amid a feud over the precise location of the 1,120-mile border as well as oil-transit fees.

"South Sudan and Sudan agreed to...the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of forces to their side of the demilitarized border zone" the AU said in a statement.

The agreement was signed by defense ministers from the two former foes following a meeting in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

South Sudan reached a messy separation with Sudan in July 2011, retaining at least 75% of the oil fields.

The two countries nearly came to an all-out war over contested regions along the common border early last year.

The spat continues to block South Sudan's crude shipments through Sudanese ports and pipelines, battering both economies. Sudan President Omar Al Bashir and his South Sudan counterpart, Salva Kiir, agreed in September last year to create the buffer zone but neither side complied with the withdrawal, heightening tensions.

Observers say deep-rooted mistrust and a history of broken promises continues to hamper the implementation of the border deals.

Early this week, South Sudan announced plans to start shipping around 30,000-40,000 barrels-a-day of crude by road, in order to heal its struggling economy.