From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Jul 18 2009 - 13:22:13 EDT
U.N. Sudan chief raises alarm over oil area troops
Sat Jul 18, 2009 12:50pm EDT
* Arbitration Court to rule on Abyei borders next week
* UN says all troops must stay out of sensitive area
By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM, July 18 (Reuters) - The head of the United Nations in Sudan
accused south Sudanese soldiers on Saturday of straying into the contested
oil area of Abyei, stoking tension ahead of a sensitive ruling on the
region's boundaries.
The armies of north Sudan and its semi-autonomous south, which clashed in
Abyei last year, had agreed to stay out of the area to prevent further
escalations in violence, as part of a deal brokered by the United Nations.
U.N. special representative Ashraf Qazi said on Saturday he had received
several "reports and confirmations" that soldiers from the south's Sudan
People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and police had entered land around Abyei and
urged them to withdraw.
Both north and south Sudan claim Abyei, which is close to key oil fields and
a pipeline.
The borders of Abyei were one of the most sensitive issues left undecided in
a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war between
Sudan's Muslim north and its mostly Christian south.
Both sides referred the issue to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The
Hague last year and have promised to accept the court's decision, whichever
way it falls.
But the ruling, expected on Wednesday, could still be divisive. Analysts
have warned there is a real risk of a return to conflict in Abyei, a region
with much of the ethnic tension and bitterness over perceived government
neglect that fuelled fighting in Sudan's neighbouring Darfur region.
Any return to civil war in Sudan would have a disastrous impact on the
country, its oil industry and the surrounding region.
VIOLATION OF AGREEMENT
Qazi said southern troops had been seen close to Agok, a nearby settlement
where tens of thousands of Abyei residents fled after the fierce fighting
between northern and southern troops in May last year.
"This is a clear violation of the Abyei Roadmap Agreement and could lead to
escalation and violence if it remained unchecked," he said, referring to the
agreement signed after last year's clashes.
He said he was alarmed by unconfirmed reports that forces and commanders
involved in the May fighting had returned to the area. "Their presence, if
confirmed, could be particularly destructive," he said.
Security in Abyei is the responsibility of Joint Integrated Units, made up
of both northern and southern troops and police, overseen by a joint
administration led by northern and southern officials.
But the administration has said it has been starved of funding by the
Khartoum government, while the joint units lack the equipment and resources
to do their job.
Two million people died and 4 million fled their homes between 1983 and 2005
as north and south Sudan battled over differences in ideology, ethnicity and
religion.
The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement shared oil revenues between the north
and south, set up a coalition government and promised elections, now
scheduled for April 2010, and a referendum on southern independence in
January 2011.~ (Editing by Tim Pearce)
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