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Peace on the horizon between Sudan, South Sudan. Troop pullout from Abyei to begin
After Sudan and South Sudan came to the brink of all-out war in April, the UN Security Council called on them to cease hostilities along their disputed border and to resume talks on a number of issues including the status of Abyei, the most sensitive matter left unresolved before South Sudan’s independence last July.
Saad did not say how many troops are in Abyei, but all of them will leave.
The army’s announcement came after former U.S. president Jimmy Carter said on Sunday, after meeting President Omar al-Bashir, that Sudan was ready to pull its soldiers from Abyei.
“He has notified the negotiators he’s ready to withdraw troops from Abyei, which we believe is a major step forward,” Carter told reporters after he and Algeria’s former foreign minister Lakhdar Brahimi held talks with Bashir.
They were representing The Elders, a group of global leaders chaired by Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu.
The United Nations May 2 resolution said both sides had to pull their forces out of Abyei by May 16.
South Sudan complied, withdrawing police who were based there, but Sudan had said it would withdraw only after a joint administrative body is established.
