KHARTOUM - The African Union on Saturday called for urgent talks between Sudan and South Sudan over the flashpoint Abyei region but backed off from a threat to refer the matter to the UN Security Council. The AU's Peace and Security Council had given the two countries until December 5 to settle the final status of oil-producing Abyei, which Sudanese troops occupied for a year until May. But no talks took place by the deadline, the Council said in a statement issued after talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. "Council urgently calls for the anticipated negotiations to take place," it said. In October, the AU security body decided that if the two countries could not settle the Abyei issue themselves, they would be bound by an AU proposal for a referendum in October next year on whether the territory joins Sudan or South Sudan. The AU said it would also seek UN Security Council endorsement of its proposal. But the statement which followed a meeting on Friday made no mention of UN involvement. It reiterated that the referendum proposal is "a fair, equitable and workable solution" and said the issue of Abyei's final status will be referred to a meeting of AU leaders in January. The AU security body also said it is "eagerly" awaiting a mooted summit between the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan "in order to remove bottlenecks on all pending issues" including Abyei and other disputed border areas.
