（Photo by Shen Hong, Xinhua News Agency ）

(2011-6-20)

I would like to thank President Mbeki and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Menkerios, for their briefings. We also listened attentively to the statements made by Ambassador Osman and Mr. Gatkuoth. I wish to emphasize several points.

First, we welcome the agreement signed between the North and the South on interim administrative and security arrangements in Abyei, which demonstrates goodwill on the part of both North and South with respect to maintaining peace and stability in the region of the Sudan. We greatly appreciate the efforts and the role of the African Union High-level Implementation Panel, led by President Mbeki, and of Mr. Menkerios and the Government of Ethiopia. We hope that both parties, with the assistance of the African Union and the United Nations, can ensure practical implementation of the agreements. For its part, the Security Council should provide the necessary assistance and support, particularly for ensuring the early deployment of the Ethiopian peacekeeping forces.

Secondly, the Security Council should encourage both North and South to insist on taking the path of peace and on maintaining calm and restraint so as to put an immediate end to hostilities in Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile and other areas; to refrain from any actions and words that could lead to an escalation of the situation; and to fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). We hope that both North and South will capitalize on the existing positive momentum and reach a comprehensive solution to the problems in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Thirdly, we welcome the recent meeting in Addis Ababa between President Al-Bashir and First Vice- President Salva Kiir Mayardit. Direct meetings between leaders are extremely important to ensuring the avoidance of misunderstandings, increasing mutual confidence and maintaining peace and stability between the North and the South. The Security Council should encourage the institutionalization of such meetings, which should be held as soon as problems arise.

Fourthly, we support the efforts of the African Union High-level Implementation Panel, led by President Mbeki, as well as the efforts of Special Representative Menkerios, to promote mutual accommodation between North and South aimed at achieving compliance with the CPA, and to arrive at a comprehensive solution to such problems as that of Abyei and other outstanding CPA-related issues, as well as on post-referendum arrangements.