Sudan said it had agreed to resume talks next week with South Sudan to end hostilities between the arch-enemies, state news agency Suna said on Thursday.
The African neighbours came close to war when a border dispute in April saw the worst violence since South Sudan split from Sudan last July under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war.
Both countries returned to African Union-mediated negotiations at the end of May, but broke off talks last week after failing to agree where to draw a demilitarised buffer zone along the disputed border as a first step to end hostilities. Talks over border security will resume in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman El-Obeid Morawah told Suna late on Thursday.
South Sudan had already said it was ready to resume talks next week. Western diplomats see no quick breakthrough, as positions over a long list of disputes seem far apart.
Both sides accuse each other of supporting rebels in the other’s territory. South Sudan said on Wednesday it was seeking international arbitration over several disputed border areas, some of which are oil-producing. – (Reuters)