U.N. Troops Assigned to Monitor Sudan Border

Leaders from Sudan and South Sudan signed an agreement Saturday in Addis Ababa to assign 300 Ethiopian troops to monitor the border separating the two countries.

The U.N.-sanctioned troops are tasked with reporting and resolving disputes along the border. They will be assigned from the disputed Abyei region, where the first of 4,200 Ethiopian peacekeepers arrived last week.

The first deployment will be sent to assess the security needs in the region next week and will be overseen by a 16-person border patrol panel with representatives from both Sudan and South Sudan.

"It's a very important agreement because it touches on one of the most sensitive areas between the countries -- how the border will be managed," the U.S. Special envoy to Sudan told AFP.

"It will provide a mechanism for stability because if incidents occur you have a mechanism to report on them, investigate them and address them," Princeton Lyman added.

South Sudan's minister for water resources and irrigation Paul Mayom said the number of troops assigned to the border may change, depending on how the security situation unfolds. "It will be determined by the need on the ground," he said.

The deal also sets a date for the two parties to meet on August 17 to finalize the border demarcation which has been a source of dispute in recent weeks, namely in South Kordofan where ongoing violence has displaced 70,000 people since early June.

Lyman called on both parties to renew a peace deal in the area. A framework agreement signed on June 7 between delegates from Juba and Khartoum was later reneged on by Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

"We are deeply, deeply concerned about it," Lyman said. "We are calling on both sides to allow a humanitarian pause of some kind that could bring aid in ... for those who are desperately in need."

A number of outstanding issues have remained between the two countries since separation on July 9, including distribution of oil wealth, unresolved debt and the establishment of a new currency in South Sudan.