South Sudan seeks to defuse crisis in Abyei through non-military means
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May 22 2011 (JUBA) – The Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) appealed
to the international community for help following the military
takeover by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) of the disputed border region
of Abyei yesterday.
JPEG - 37.5 kb
Southern army spokesman Colonel Philip Aguer, left, and information
minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin, right, at a press conference in
Juba, Southern Sudan Sunday, May 22, 2011 (AP)
At a press conference in Juba GoSS spokesperson and minister of
information Barnaba Marial Benjamin said that the SAF’s seizure of
Abyei is "illegal".
"It is the responsibility of the United Nations and the Security
Council to see that they are withdrawn," Benjamin said.
The GoSS official said that the SAF "invasion" has endangered the life
of thousands of citizens accusing the Northern army of "burning houses
on a rampage of looting" adding that the South “will respond in
self-defense”.
"Women and children are suffering at the hands of an invading army
that doesn’t care....they are hungry, in need of medication and out in
the heavy rains without shelter".
Sudan Tribune journalist Ngor Aguot who was locked at a UN compound in
Abyei during SAF’s operation confirmed looting and burning in the
region.
The Abyei resident said that he has lost all his belongings that were
in his house during a rampage following the takeover.
"They are entering houses and taking everything away," Aguot said in
an email adding that there was no intervention by UN peacekeepers in
the region.
GoSS spokesperson has appealed for UN peacekeepers to "come out of
their bunkers".
Southern military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer told the London based
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the SPLA "will not be drawn into
war".
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without
Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an aid agency which runs
health clinics in Abyei town and 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the south
in Agok, said in a statement that they received 42 wounded late Friday
and early Saturday.
"This morning, nearly the entire population of Abyei town fled the
city, which is now almost empty. MSF teams have suspended primary
health care activities in Abyei and have now reached the fleeing
population in Agok".
Meanwhile the Sudanese government expressed its willingness to enter
into immediate negotiations on new security arrangements to end the
crisis in Abyei but insisted that Southern police must withdraw from
the region before that could happen.
The visiting United Nations Security Council (UNSC) delegation has
condemned seizure of Abyei and also the attack by Southern forces last
Thursday on a SAF convoy and United Nations Peacekeepers.
The state minister in the presidency Amin Hassan Omer who headed the
government’s side in the talks with the UNSC stressed that SAF will
stay in Abyei until new security arrangements are put in place.
Omer said that SAF entered Abyei as a response to "continuous
violations" by the South to the existing agreements.
"Until we reach a new security arrangement the army will remain the
guard of the region so as to ensure no infiltration by SPLA forces
again," he said.
"We are ready to negotiate and are committed to the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement and the Kadugli accord signed between the two sides on
the region," adding that the duty of SAF is to expel the force outside
the boundaries of Abyei and deal with it as an illegal force.
The Northern official underscored that Abyei is part of the north
until its people decide otherwise in the referendum. He also denied
that the armed forces are seeking to impose a new reality.
Abyei was scheduled to hold a referendum last January on whether to be
part of the North or an independent South but it was put on hold after
both sides failed to agree on who would be eligible to vote.
The United States, France and United Kingdom have chided Khartoum’s
military takeover of Abyei and called for immediate withdrawal.
Today the European Union (EU) also joined the international chorus of
condemnation.
"I condemn the violent incidents in Abyei during the last few days,"
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said, pointing out that it
violated the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between
the two sides to end the civil war.
"I therefore appeal to all parties to resolve their differences in the
framework of the CPA," the statement added.
EU foreign ministers would be considering the crisis at their
scheduled meeting in Brussels on Monday, she added.
(ST)
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