CAIRO — The rival governments in Sudan have agreed to establish joint patrols along their demilitarized border zone. The joint patrols were announced amid the threat of a new war between the Muslim north and Christian south.

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The African Union said the northern government in Khartoum and the southern government in Juba have agreed to launch joint patrols, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said the agreement was reached after weeks of negotiations in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

"The agreement establishes a Common Border Zone between North and South Sudan, which is to be demilitarized and jointly monitored and patrolled," the AU said on May 31.

The AU effort was attributed to Alex de Waal, who headed the negotiations in Ethiopia. Northern and southern Sudan share a demilitarized zone that extends 2,100 kilometers.

Officials said the patrols would cover the 10-kilometer wide demilitarized zone north and south of the 1956 border drawn by Britain ahead of Sudanese independence. They said details of the patrols and their authority would be released soon.

The sole referendum arranged by the AU and United Nations was that of southern Sudan, in which 95 percent voted for independence. Secession from Khartoum was scheduled to take place on July 9.

Khartoum has proposed to rotate control of the administration in Abyei. Under the proposal, released on late May 31, Khartoum's military would remain north of the Bahar Al Arab River while Abyei's administration would be transferred to a north-south committee on July 8.

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