South Sudan denies conceding disputed Abyei to North Sudan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 22, 2011 (JUBA) – South Sudan has denied statements from Khartoum’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) that the former has conceded future ownership of the disputed Abyei territory to North Sudan during their contacts in Addis Ababa. Didiri Mohamed Ahmed (AFP) Under the fresh deal inked on Monday between the signatories to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), Sudan Armed Forces(SAF) and the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) would withdraw any troops they have from the oil-producing district after which Ethiopian troops would be deployed to fill the void. The agreement details the mechanism by which the Abyei administration council would replace the one dissolved by president Omer Hassan al-Bashir following SAF’s takeover of Abyei last month. Its chief shall be picked by the SPLM but must be approved by the NCP. The deputy however, would be nominated by the NCP and endorsed by the Southern ex-rebel group. However, on Tuesday barely one day after the agreement a statement was attributed to the NCP’s official in charge of Abyei file, Didiri Mohamed Ahmed, as saying that there was an understanding reached at the Addis Ababa meeting between the two parties that South Sudan would concede future ownership of Abyei to the North. In his response on Tuesday, the spokesman of the South Sudan army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), Philip Aguer, told the press that the statement from the NCP senior official was incorrect. Aguer further clarified that North and South Sudan only agreed in Addis Ababa to split in half the membership of the administration of Abyei area on a temporary basis until the people of the area conduct their referendum within the territory of Dinka Ngok per the demarcation by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague. A UN peacekeeping force of 3,000 Ethiopian soldiers would also be deployed in the disputed region. The African Union High Level implementation Panel (AUHIP) headed by former South African president Thabo Mbeki mediated the talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, between the two peace partners to resolve the Abyei crisis that occurred last month when the Sudanese army took control of the area. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
