The Council of Ministers on Monday welcomed the verdict of the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the border demarcation in the Sudanese region of Abyei. Terming the step as positive, the Cabinet said this will usher in permanent and lasting peace and stability for the region's citizens. “The ruling will reunite the citizens and encourage the displaced people to return to their native homes and will boost the spirit of peaceful coexistence,” the Cabinet said. In a ruling that will bolster Sudan's fragile north-south peace agreement, an international arbitration panel Wednesday awarded the northern-led government control of several key disputed oil fields while giving large swathes of contested grazing land to the south. The split decision regarding the flashpoint region of Abyei was seen as a boost to the 2005 US-brokered peace treaty between the Khartoum-based regime and former southern rebels in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, or SPLM. The meeting was chaired by Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. Dr. Khalid Al-Anqari, Minister of Higher Education and Acting Minister of Culture and Information, said Prince Naif briefed the Cabinet on the talks and consultations held by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, with leaders and envoys of several countries including the message he received from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, head of the United States Central Command. On domestic issues, the Council authorized the Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior or his deputy to discuss and sign with Jordan a draft agreement for repatriation of convicts between the two countries. The Council authorized the Minister of Social Affairs or his deputy to discuss and sign the executive cooperation program in the field of social affairs with Egypt and to get it approved by the Saudi
