The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has welcomed the convening of the second ordinary meeting of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism (JPSM), held in Juba, from November 6th - 7th.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Ministers of Defense of the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan. The Chairperson, however, regretted that the meeting could not reach agreement on practical steps to implement security arrangements contained in the Agreements signed at the Summit between President Omar Hassan al Bashir of the Republic of Sudan and President Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Republic of South Sudan in Addis Ababa, on September 27th last year.

The Chairperson of the Commission stressed the need for the "full and timely implementation of the security arrangements", to enhance confidence between the two States along their common border, and to facilitate the full implementation of all the other Agreements reached. The Chairperson also pleaded with the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-North) to open direct negotiations under the auspices of the AU High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan and South Sudan (AUHIP), to help move towards peaceful resolution to the conflicts in the two Sudanese states of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.