SUNA- Vice - President of the Republic, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, and the Vice - President of the Government of South Sudan (GoSS), Dr. Riek Machar, Monday signed at the premises of the Council of Ministers the agreement of arbitration on Abyei issue, prior to submitting it within a week to the International Arbitration Court in the Hague.
In a press statement after the signing of the agreement, the Minister of Presidency Affairs in the Government of South Sudan (GoSS), Dr. Luka Piong, said that the agreement's signing is a major step in the implementation of the agreement on Abyei. The signing of the agreement of arbitration on Abyei came by the end of the meeting of the joint executive political committee of the National Congress and Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).
Dr. Piong affirmed the keenness of the SPLM and the National Congress to go ahead in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
He said that the joint executive political committee is due to continue its meetings on July 23, adding that the joint branch committees will also resume their work in the coming period. Member of the joint executive political committee, Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed, described the agreement's signing as a very important step toward ending the dispute about the implementation of the protocol on Abyei and referring it to arbitration according to the agreement of the two parties.
He said that the agreement on arbitration, which is composed of ten pages, has defined the points of the disputes, the laws that shall be applied, the mechanisms for selecting the arbitrators and implementing the arbitration rule, besides other technical details pertinent to the work of the arbitration committee which will begin its mission immediately and in accordance with the terms included in the agreement. Ahmed explained that the two parties are required to select within one month since the tabling of the agreement four arbitrators, two by each of them, while the four arbitrators shall choose the fifth one.
He said that after these procedures that would last for a month will be followed by a meeting of the arbitration committee to begin its mission. He pointed out that the Presidency of the Republic is setting up a mechanism to put into action the decision of the arbitration committee immediately in accordance with the agreement.
