UN chief names commander of Abyei peacekeeping mission
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July 29, 2011 (NAIROBI) – A veteran Ethiopian military commander has
been appointed to discharge the mandate of his country’s UN-financed
peacekeeping mission to Sudan’s hotly-contested region of Abyei.
JPEG - 25 kb
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivers a speech during
the second day of third Global Review of aid for trade co-hosted by
the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, July 19,
2011 (AP Photos)
Lieutenant General Tadesse Werede Tesfay, 53, was tipped on Wednesday
by the UN’s Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to assume responsibility of
the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), established pursuant
to the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) resolution 1990.
The mission’s mandate was approved on 27 June by the UNSC in line with
an agreement signed seven days earlier between Sudan and South Sudan
under the aegis of the African Union on temporary security and
administrative arrangements in the border region of Abyei, including
full demilitarisation of the area.
Deployment logistics of UNISFA’s 3000 Ethiopian peacekeepers were
transported to Abyei on 8 July, according to Ethiopian military
officials.
Abyei, a fertile and oil-producing region straddling the ill-defined
borders between Sudan and South Sudan, is claimed by both countries.
The region’s status was supposed to be decided in a referendum in
early January but the vote stalled due to disagreements between
Sudanese and Southern Sudanese leaders on who should vote.
Sudan insists that members of the Misseria tribe who traverse the
borders into Abyei a few months a year to graze their cattle be
allowed to vote while South Sudan, which became independent on 9 July,
maintains that only its constituents of Dinka Ngok should be allowed
to vote.
In the run-up to South Sudan’s declaration of independence from Sudan,
the latter’s army occupied the region in May in response to an attack
allegedly carried out by southern forces.
The agreement on Abyei stipulates that Sudan’s army should redeploy
out of Abyei boundaries, as defined by the ruling of the Permanent
Court of Arbitration, consequent to the deployment of UNISFA.
Under Abyei agreement, UNSIFA is tasked with verification and
monitoring of security in Abyei, including protection of civilians and
the region’s borders from “incursions by unauthorized elements.”
“Lieutenant General Tesfay has most recently occupied the position of
Head of the Joint Training Department and has previously held a number
of important command and staff appointments within the ENDF [Ethiopian
National Defence Forces], including commanding the Army Corps and
serving as a member of the Defence Commanders Council,” Ki-Moon said
of his appointee in a press release seen by Sudan Tribune.
The press release added that Tesfay has a masters degree in business
management (MBA) and an additional masters in security sector
management (MSSM).
Under the Abyei agreement, Tesfay shall also be chairing a joint
military observer committee consisting of an equal number of observers
from Sudan and South Sudan.
The observer committee will be stationed in Abyei, according to the deal.
(ST)
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