South Sudan apologizes to UN for attack on northern forces in Abyei
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May 23, 2011 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s government has apologized for the
attack on the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday, May 19, in Abyei,
which triggered the northern army’s capturing of the town on Saturday,
May 21.
JPEG - 27.2 kb
Hundreds of southern Sudanese take part in a demonstration against
northern Sudan’s military incursion into the border town of Abyei in
the southern capital of Juba Monday May 23, 2011 (AP)
On Thursday the SAF accused the South Sudan army, the Sudan People’s
Liberation Army (SPLA), for attacking its convoy which was withdrawing
from Abyei in implementation of the Kadugli security agreement.
The SAF were being accompanied by the United Nations Mission in Sudan
(UNMIS) when they came under attack by the SPLA on Thursday.
On Sunday the incident was condemned by the visiting delegation from
the UN Security Council in Khartoum.
"The members of the Security Council condemn the attack by Southern
forces against a United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) convoy
escorting Sudanese Armed Forces elements of Joint Integrated Units on
May 19 in Abyei," read a statement by Suzan Rice, the representative
of the United States at the Security Council.
"The attack was not only a serious breach of agreements between the
parties, but also a criminal act against a United Nations mission and
its personnel," the statement said.
UNMIS also condemned the attacks and said it was a criminal act
against the UN. It called on the parties involved to investigate the
incident and take appropriate action against the perpetrators of the
attack.
However, in a press conference on Sunday in the Southern capital,
Juba, the spokesman of the government Barnaba Marial Benjamin, on
behalf of the government of South Sudan, apologised to UNMIS for
Thursday’s incident in Abyei, saying it was not intentional.
Speaking to UN-run radio station Miraya FM, SPLA spokesman Philip
Aguer also said that the incident was not intentional. He further
explained that unidentified persons fired on the SAF convoy, adding
that the matter would be investigated.
The SPLA spokesman during a joint briefing of foreign diplomats in
Juba on Monday together with the minister of information said SAF
forces have also advanced southwards and occupied by force a disputed
territory called Kuek in northern Upper Nile state.
Reports also suggest that SAF has advanced southwards towards the Kiir
river close to Warrap state on Monday and captured the main bridge
close to the January 1, 1956 border left by the British between north
and south Sudan.
Aguer accused the northern army of organizing a full scale war and
warned that any further move by the northern army in an attempt to
cross the North-South borders of 1956 will not be tolerated.
The UN Security Council on Sunday issued a statement also calling on
the northern SAF to withdraw from Abyei after its military takeover on
Saturday.
"The members of the Security Council call upon the government of Sudan
to halt its military operation and to withdraw immediately from Abyei
town and its environs," the French ambassador to the United Nations,
Gerard Araud, told a joint news conference in Khartoum with his
Russian and US counterparts.
They also deplored the "unilateral" decision by president Omer Hassan
Al-Bashir to dissolve the Abyei administrative council and called for
its reinstatement "without delay".
The UN Security Council members were expected to arrive in Juba from
Khartoum on Monday and hold talks with senior South Sudan officials
that evening.
Marial, the spokesmen of the South Sudan government, called on the SAF
forces in Abyei to withdraw from the town. He denounced violence and
said his government was seeking peaceful means to settle the dispute
over Abyei.
Meanwhile citizens of Abyei residing in Juba organized a street
protest on Monday shouting “Abyei is 100% belonging to South Sudan.”
In January the South voted by nearly 99% to separate from north Sudan
in a referendum agreed as part of a 2005 peace deal. A special
protocol of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement stipulated that
residents of the disputed Abyei region would hold a simultaneous
plebiscite to determine whether the region would join South Sudan or
remain in South Kordofan state, north of the border.
However, Khartoum’s ruling National Congress Party and the SPLM, who
govern the south could not agree on who was allowed to take part and
the vote did not go ahead.
(ST)
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