Ethiopian Peace Force to Abyei begins operation next week Article Comments (1) Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle July 22, 2011 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopian peace force (United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA)) will officially begin a peace keeping operations in the troubled North - South Sudan frontier of Abyei region as of next week, said an Ethiopian government official on Friday. Arrival Ethiopian UN contingent at Bujumbura airport, Burundi, replacing the other Ethiopian contingent ready to leave on 02 september 2004. (file/UN) "A first phase contingent of an Ethiopian peace force has been in a weeklong overland journey to Abyei since July 7. Some of them have already arrived at the region and the remaining will be there by the end of this week," Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ambassador Dina Mufti told Sudan Tribune. "I believe North and South Sudanese forces have already withdrawn from Abyei by now and the Ethiopian force will officially launch its peacekeeping operation as of next week," he added. According to Dina, Ethiopian army Chief General Samora Yenus is currently in Khartoum and a welcoming ceremony is expected to be held for the Ethiopian peace force by an administration withdrawn from both Sudanese sides. Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) took the control of the contested Abyei area last May and the region has been a subject to conflict, with fears that the dispute between North and South Sudan may escalate into a return to civil war. Last month, The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously authorized the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian peacekeeping forces to Abyei region after leaders from North and South Sudan - under the broker of the African Union - signed an agreement in Addis Ababa to fully demilitarize the central region and allow an Ethiopian peacekeeping force to move in to monitor Abyei. According to the UN resolution the Ethiopian force has the mission of demilitarizing activities in and around Abyei and ensuring peace in the region for at least the next six months. It will be engaged mainly in protecting civilians, maintaining a buffer zone and also to create peaceful environment that will allow conducting referendum on the contested region of Abyei. Ethiopia has in the past deployed troops for similar missions in South Korea, Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia, and Democratic Republic Congo. It currently has also over 2,400 troops deployed in Darfur. South Sudan has officially become an independent state on 9 July 2011 after its citizens voted overwhelmingly to split from North. The vote came as a result of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended the civil war with their civil war in 2005. Another stipulation of the CPA was the right of the citizens of Abyei to a referendum. This has not yet happened. The area has been the site of conflict, with allegations that North Sudan is repopulating Abyei with members of the pro-Khartoum Misseriya ethnic group with a view to weighing a future vote in their favour. North and South Sudan still need to engage in post-independence negotiations how to resolve other pending issues including oil revenue sharing, demarcation of the border and referendum. (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.
