JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN — South Sudanese President Salva Kiir will visit Khartoum this month, taking up the invitation extended by his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir when he visited  Juba in April, a government spokesman said Tuesday.

Sudanese state media also reported that  Kiir will travel to Khartoum later this month.

Bashir’s visit to Juba was his first since South Sudan became an independent nation in 2011.

 

During the visit to Juba by the Sudanese president, the two leaders discussed how to resolve outstanding issues that have prevented a cooperation agreement that was reached last year in Addis Ababa from being implemented.

When the two men meet in Khartoum this month, the disputed, oil-rich territory of Abyei is likely to be at the top of the agenda, South Sudanese Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said.

Kiir last visited Khartoum in October 2011, three months after South Sudan became independent.