Meetings with Ethiopian delegation over disputed border area

Sudanese-Ethiopian talks in Gondar, northern Ethiopia, have concluded with the two sides signing a memorandum of understanding regarding disputed border lands, reported Sudanese state television on 12 June. A delegation from Gedarif, eastern Sudan, consisted of state officials and representatives of farmers and herders unions. Talks focused on the problem of agriculture along the border area, said the report, monitored by the BBC. No cultivation has taken place since 1994. After three days of talks, the Sudan delegation and Ethiopian representatives from the Amhara and Tigray regions signed a memorandum which “stipulates the surrender of the agricultural lands disputed by the two sides in accordance with the 1994 agreement until the border is demarcated” said the televised report. The memorandum of understanding declared both sides would “resolve all disagreements” and would put new measures in place to streamline border trade and movement of pastoralists along the border.