North and South Sudan agreed to create a demilitarized zone in order to bolster security along their border, the African Union said on Tuesday.

North and South Sudan are to create a demilitarized zone in order to bolster security along their border, the African Union said on Tuesday.

The defense ministers of the former civil war rivals headed the agreement in Addis Ababa on Monday evening, despite a deadlock over the disputed region of Abyei.
The agreement established a joint political and security mechanism "to ensure that the two parties can maintain stable and secure relations."

The accord also " establishes a common border zone between north and south Sudan, which is to be demilitarized and jointly monitored and patrolled," said the AU, which has been mediating negotiations ahead of full independence for the south on July 9.

The Addsi Ababa agreement came 10 days after the north send its forces to Abyei in response to a deadly attack on their troops in the contested border region.

World powers condemned the move, warning it threatens peace between the two neighbors.
On Monday, Sudan's vice president Riek Machar agreed with his northern counterpart Ali Osman Taha to form a joint committee aimed at resolving the Abyei crisis.

But Taha rejected southern demands that the army withdraw, saying it would only do so when a political solution had been reached.