Sudan and South Sudan have differed on the status of the disputed oil-producing region of Abyei, citing internal political issues requiring the urgent attention of the leaders from both countries.

“There are no scheduled discussions about the status of Abyei that I know”, South Sudan’s Presidential Affairs minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin said on Monday.

He added, “Sudan is engaged in internal matters as for us, we have been ready and willing to meet and discuss. In fact, it is in the interest of the people of Sudan and South Sudan to see that the issue of Abyei is settled but intervening factors have always interceded and drew the attention of the leadership”.

While the minister attributes delaying the resumption of talks about the future of Abyei to internal issues in the two countries, several officials point to internal confusion within the Abyei community, and some advocates advocated a soft way to handle the dispute. Others have taken refuge in the 2005 protocol, the 2009 court ruling, and the 2013 community referendum.

“Forget the advocacy about Abyei now, it is not on the table of the issues the leadership of the two countries has been discussing when they meet either here in Juba or in Khartoum. They have got other issues in their minds, said a presidential aide when reached to comment on the status of the talks between the two countries.

The official, a close ally of President Salva Kiir, was part of the fact-finding investigation committee in June to establish the cause of the clashes which pitted members of the Dinka Ngok and their southern neighbour, the twic over territorial claim over Agok.

“There is confusion in Abyei. Francis Mading Deng and his brothers are saying one thing in the press, writing proposals to the United Nations saying they prefer peaceful coexistence with Sudan and when they are in Juba, they are saying something else. They say that the parliament, I mean our national legislative assembly here and the government, more especially President Salva Kiir and the SPLM leadership should approve and accept the outcome of the 2013 community referendum. You can see this confusion. There is no coherence in the message”, Marial explained.

Mading, he said, penned a statement in May 2022 advocating peaceful coexistence with Sudan. His own people, he added, did not accept the proposal and the local council rejected it after consultation.

“But how influential are they? Those are just local voices with no swaying voices and influence in national, regional, and global affairs. Do not underestimate the influence of Francis Mading. So, and until there is one voice from Abyei, the status will continue to be a daggle”, he stressed.

Abyei Area is an area of 10,546 km² on the border between South Sudan and the Sudan that has been accorded “special administrative status” by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the Second Sudanese civil war.