The AU Peace and Security Council held a meeting on Monday on the current situation between Sudan and South Sudan.

State Minister, Ambassador Berhane Gebre-Christos delivered a speech at the opening of the meeting, representing Ethiopia as the chair of IGAD.

Ambassador Berhane said the current impasse in implementing the Addis Ababa Agreements in Sudan and South Sudan relating to the accusations and counter-accusations of harboring rebels, was a situation that threatened "to undermine the tremendous progress achieved in the peace process and the normalization of relations between the two countries".

He, however, noted that the fact that both the Sudan and South Sudan had accepted the proposal for the establishment of the Ad-hoc Investigation Mechanism was a positive step towards restoring peace and stability between the two countries.

Commending the efforts made by the AUHIP, he said that "IGAD fully endorses the proposal to extend the mandate of AUHIP."

Last month, both Sudan and South Sudan agreed to new AUHIP initiatives aimed to resolve outstanding issues including the border issue and allegations of support to rebel groups on each side of the borders.