CEOAFRICA.com gathered from South Sudan that the government of the country has called on international organisations to quickly implement the agreement between South Sudan and Sudan so as to enable the new country to hold its referendum in determining the final status of the disputed oil-rich Abyei border.

The above plead came from the South Sudan Foreign Minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, who said the referendum is the only democratic way for the people of Abyei to decide whether they want to remain in the north or return to the south.

It was gathered from sources that in 2005, the peace talk between both countries stated that the people of Abyei should decide through a referendum, whether they want to remain in the north or return to the south.

The African Union High Implementation Panel has set October for the referendum to be held.  But, while Juba supports a referendum, Khartoum is opposed and favors a negotiated political settlement. Benjamin said Juba received international backing during the 68^th UN General Assembly for the referendum to take place as planned.

“During the annual General Assembly of heads of state in New York, both the foreign minister of Sudan and me as the foreign minister of South Sudan, were invited to brief the African Union Peace and Security Council. On our side, we briefed our commitment for the referendum to go ahead in Abyei.  The majority of members of the African Union endorsed the legality of conducting a referendum in Abyei,” he said.

He also said that the international community must put pressure on Sudan to accept the proposal for a referendum.

“That’s why, in my briefing to the African Union Peace and Security Council in New York, I told the members that they need to persuade Sudan to go along with the decision that has been agreed upon by us as partners as well as a comprised proposal by the African Union which is blessed by the UN Security Council [Resolution] 2046.  So, what has not been done is for Sudan to agree to that and for a date to be fixed.  And this is why we need pressure from all these countries to put on Sudan to go along,” Benjamin said.

“You remember Abyei in 1905 was a part of South Sudan, and then it was transferred for administrative reasons into the northern part of the Sudan. Now, with the CPA [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] protocol on Abyei, we equally agreed that the people of Abyei shall have a referendum to choose whether they remain in the north or to come back to where they were taken from in the beginning.  So, yes, the referendum issue is a part of the political settlement of the whole final settlement of Abyei,” he said.