Sudan, South Sudan leaders to meet

South Sudan's president Salva Kiir will travel to Ethiopia, most likely on Sunday, to meet his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir for talks, a Juba government official said.

The talks in the capital Addis Ababa will "probably" take place on Sunday, Barnaba Marial, the South Sudanese government spokesman told journalists late Friday.

Sudan's official news agency SUNA said Bashir would leave for the talks on Sunday.

Negotiations between the two neighbors, which resumed early this month, have focused on oil, border issues and the disputed Abyei area.

The European Union's top diplomat Catherine Ashton welcomed news of the Addis Ababa meeting and urged "both governments to conclude a comprehensive agreement on all outstanding issues."

The two countries fought along their undemarcated frontier in March and April, sparking fears of wider war and leading to a UN Security Council resolution ordering a ceasefire.

It also ordered the settlement of unresolved issues under African Union mediation.

A previous round of talks in early August led to a breakthrough deal on export fees that landlocked Juba will pay to Khartoum to ship its oil through northern pipelines. The details however still need to be finalized.

At independence, South Sudan took with it two-thirds of the region's oil, though processing and export facilities remained in the North.

In January, the South shut off oil production – damaging the economies of both countries – after accusing Sudan of stealing its oil.

Officials have said that even once a final deal is reached on oil it could then take between three and six months before exports could resume.

The AU set a September 22 deadline for this round of talks after the two sides failed to reach a comprehensive agreement last month, missing a UN deadline of August 2.

(AFP)