Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir declined an invitation to a meeting with South Sudanese president Salva Kiir on Wednesday according to Sudanese state-run SUNA news agency.
Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman El-Obeid Morawah was quoted by SUNA as saying the reason for turning down the invitation was a pre-scheduled visit to Qatar which Al-Bashir starts on Tuesday, adding that his state prefers for such meetings to occur only after “planning and preparation.”
Al-Bashir was invited by African Union mediator, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to meet with Kiir and resume talks between the neighbours aimed at ending hostilities.
Sudan and South Sudan engaged in serious border clashes in April, a little less than a year after South Sudan declared its independence.
The United Nations has given both states a deadline of 1 August to resolving their dispute. Should the deadline arrive without the disputes being resolved, both states face the threat of having Security Council sanctions imposed on them.
