South Sudan seeks global support over Sudanese army withdrawal from Abyei
* Article
* Comments (25)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
By Ngor Arol Garang
May 11, 2012 (JUBA) - South Sudan on Friday called on the
international community to exert pressure on the government of
neighbouring Sudan to immediately withdraw its troops from the
contested border region of Abyei.
JPEG - 13.2 kb
A UNMIS peacekeeper patrol in Abyei, Southern Sudan, Friday, March 11, 2011 (AP)
On Thursday 10 May Juba announced that it had completely withdrawn its
police forces out of the contested area, as stipulated by a 2 May
resolution of the UN Security Council, which called on both countries
to move their forces out of the region.
South Sudan has announced that it is willing to comply with all
aspects of resolution 2046, which calls on both sides to resume
negotiations on post-partition issues and signed deal with three
months.
The UNSC resolution endorsed the proposals of the African Union Peace
and Security Council (AUPSC), which also called on the Khartoum
government and rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile to negotiate and
end to their conflict, based on the agreement Sudan’s president Omar
Hassan al-Bashir discarded last year.
Bashir has expressed unwillingness to comply fully with the demands of
the UN and AU. "We only do the things we want to do. And no security
council or the whole world for the matter can force us to act
otherwise,” Bashir said Thursday.
Since Abyei was captured by the Sudan Armed Forces in May 2011, the
UNSC has repeatedly called for both nations to withdraw from the
dispute region, the status of which was due to have been decided in a
referendum in January 2011. The vote did not go ahead due to
disagreement over who could take part.
As part of a deal in June 2011 Ethiopian peacekeepers were deployed
the region under a Chapter VII UN mandate. However, other aspects of
the agreement have not been fully implemented, most notably the
demilitarisation of the area and the establishment of a civilian
administration.
On Friday, the South Sudanese Co-Chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight
Committee, Luka Biong Deng, who witnessed the withdrawal of Southern
forces the day before called on the "international community to demand
the withdrawal of Sudan’s forces from the area and all other armed
elements they support, and if necessary, secure such compliance
through the Chapter VII measures provided for in the UN Security
Council resolution.”
Biong is a member of the Dinka Ngok tribe, which South Sudan maintains
is Abyei’s only resident native group, and considers as the only
legitimate ethnic group to participate in the postponed referendum on
the future status of Abyei.
Khartoum, however, insists that the nomadic Misseriya tribe, which
enters Abyei to find grazing for its cattle for much of the year,
should also be given voting rights. Juba, on the other side, rejects
their eligibility saying this would lead to maintain Abyei in Sudan
and prevent the oil producing area from joining newly independent
state.
According to Biong, the withdrawal of Southern police forces from
Abyei was witnessed by General Tadesse Werede Tesfay, the Force
Commander for the United Nations Interim Security Forces for Abyei
(UNISFA); General Acuil Tito Madut, the Inspector General of South
Sudan Police; General Kuol Monyluak, the Acting Chief Administrator of
the Area and himself as the chief representative on behalf of South
Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit. Community leaders also witnessed
the event.
The senior official of the country’s governing Sudan People’s
Liberation Movement (SPLM) said that the African Union’s Peace and
Security Council, which called for the withdrawal in roadmap for peace
between the two nations on 24 April 2012, should step up calls upon
the member states to persuade Khartoum to reciprocate and withdraw
from the region.
In April, the two nations fought a bitter border conflict over the
adjacent oil-producing region Heglig, just to the east of Abyei. The
area is claimed by both sides but South Sudan’s army (SPLA) occupied
the are for 10 days in response to land and ground attacks from SAF.
The SPLA withdrew - voluntarily according to Juba - following
widespread international condemnation, most notably UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-Moon describing the move as "illegal". Khartoum says
that it forced the SPLA to retreat.
Officials in Juba have expressed anger that their brief occupation of
Heglig drew such robust rebuke, while Sudan’s occupation of Abyei and
other incidents of "aggression" have not been so harshly criticised.
Biong called for the formation of an Abyei police service, as per the
peace deal which the two sides signed in June 2011 in the Ethiopia
capital of Addis Ababa, and said it was time the committee to take up
its duties.
"It is even more necessary that [the] Abyei Joint Oversight Committee
uphold its duties and obligations to immediately form an Abyei Police
Service as per the June 2011 Agreement on the Temporary Arrangements
for the Administration and Security of the Abyei Area”, he said.
He repeated South Sudan’s position that it is willing to comply with
all stipulations of United Nations Security Council resolutions,
including withdrawing from all contested areas and establishing and
activating Border Verification Monitoring Mechanism.
Having suffered diplomatically as a result of the Heglig occupation,
Biong described the world’s youngest country a responsible member of
the UN and AU, adding that Juba respected calls for a ceasefire and
the immediate resumption of talks on the outstanding issues between
the two sides.
"The withdrawal of our police from Abyei is a note to the African
Union and United Nations supporting commitment of our government that
it shall adhere to the ceasefire called upon by both international
organizations. The Republic of South Sudan has demonstrated that it is
a law abiding and responsible member of the international community,
eager to find peaceful solutions to any challenges it is facing with
its neighbors," Biong explained.
“It is hope[d] that the Government of Sudan will soon reciprocate with
its own withdrawals, ceasefire announcement, and further
demonstrations of peace,” he said, remarking that he could not see any
sign of this yet.
He described decision to pull out police service from Abyei as "brave"
and the right step to address the dispute and sends a clear message
that South Sudan is ready and committed to peaceful dialogue over
contentious issues with Sudan.
However, he noted that it was the responsibility of the international
community "to protect those souls that live within the Abyei Area from
attack."
"We hope this now paves the way for all SAF forces to withdraw, a
prompt, voluntary, and dignified return of the Ngok Dinka people to
their homelands, a final resolution of the status of Abyei.", he
explained.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"South Sudan Info - The Kob" 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/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
