UNSC welcomes Al-Bashir's visit to Juba

The UN Security Council on Thursday welcomed the summit, presidents of Sudan Omar Al-Bashir and of South Sudan Salva Kiir held in Juba on Tuesday, and their commitment to proceed expeditiously with the establishment of Abyei Administration, Abyei Council and Abyei Police Service. Council President Agshin Mehdiyev of Azerbaijan said in a press statement following a Council closed-door session that the Council reiterated its "grave concern" about the "highly volatile" situation in the disputed oil-rich Abyei area and "urgently" called on all concerned to refrain from any unilateral action that could heighten tension or impede a solution. The Council also expressed support for the African Union Peace and Security Council's decision to visit Abyei on October 26-27, and urged both communities to use this visit as an opportunity to ease tension. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the Presidents' Summit and their decision to accelerate the full establishment of the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone (SDBZ) by mid-November. He called on both countries to "urgently resume" their consultations on the implementation of the 2012 African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) proposal to determine the final status of Abyei, and called on Abyei community leaders to refrain from any unilateral initiatives which could increase tensions in the Abyei area. The Summit in South Sudan's capital Juba was meant to resolve the issue of the disputed oil-rich region and other pending issues that remained unresolved since South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011 through a referendum that was part of the 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between Sudan's north and south. That referendum was also meant to include Abyei, but was postponed indefinitely due to disagreements over the process. Al-Bashir said in Juba that both leaders will "make sure all the outstanding issues are implemented". Kiir, on the other hand, said "we are ready to go the extra mile to make peace with Sudan."