African Union urges Sudan to pull out troops from Abyei
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By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
May 12, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) - The African Union (AU) has commended
South Sudan for withdrawing its police forces from the contested Abyei
area and has urged Khartoum to immediately do the same.
JPEG - 44.6 kb
A UN peacekeeper escorts civilians who flee Abyei after its seizure by
the Sudanese army in May 2011 (photo UN)
The government of South Sudan on Thursday said that it had completely
the withdrawal of 700-strong South Sudan Police Service (SSPS) as per
a 2 May resolution of the UN Security Council. Resolution 2046 called
on both sides to withdraw from all disputed areas and return to talks
within 2 weeks and resolve the outstanding issues from South Sudan’s
independence last year with three months.
The AU statement comes shortly after Force Commander of the United
Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), Lieutenant General
Tadesse Tesfay, in a letter addressed to the AU on Friday, confirmed
the pull out by South Sudan.
The statement by the AU said, South Sudan’s move is complies with the
AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) road map, which was endorsed by
the UNSC, aiming to create a lasting and peaceful settlement to
pending disputes between Khartoum and Juba.
“The Chairperson of the Commission commends the Government of the
Republic of South Sudan for making good on its pledge to withdraw from
Abyei, in line with the letter it addressed to the AU regarding its
acceptance of the Roadmap,” the statement said.
AU said the move by South Sudan is an important step forward to
restore relations and to easing tensions as well as in paving the way
to resume negotiations between the two former civil war rivals.
In May Last year, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) occupied much of Abyei
in retaliation to an attack on its forces. For a year both sides kept
forces in the area, the status of which was to have been decided in a
refendum in January 2011 in a vote agreed as part of the 2005 peace
deal that ended two-decades pf conflict.
Tensions over Abyei, and nearby Heglig, have led to fears that the two
sides could return to war less than a year after South Sudan seceded
in July last year.
In June 2011, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously
authorised the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian peacekeeping forces to
Abyei after leaders from Sudan and South Sudan - under the African
Union sponsored mediation - signed an agreement in Addis Ababa to
fully demilitarise the Abyei and allow an Ethiopian peacekeeping force
to move in - to monitor disputed area.
The latest AU proposed Roadmap adopted was April, and subsequently was
endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2046 (2012) of
2 May 2012, seeks a comprehensive settlement to all outstanding
disputes between North and South Sudan including to agreement on
establishing a temporary Security and Administrative arrangements for
the Abyei and an immediate forces withdrawal from the area.
South Sudan on Friday accused its northern neighbour of refusing to
withdraw forces from Abyei and called on the international community
to pressure Omer Hassan Al-Bashir’s government to comply with the
rulings of the UN and AU.
In his latest statement, the AU chief, Jean Ping, called on the
government of the Sudan “to reciprocate and withdraw its forces from
Abyei, in line with its acceptance of the Roadmap and the timetable
contained therein. With the effective deployment of UNISFA, there is
no longer need for any other force to remain in Abyei.”
Ping called on the two parties to “continue fully and unconditionally”
implement the roadmap further reaffirmed a continued support from the
continental bloc to resolve the dispute in all aspects.
The UK’s Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham welcomed the news,
saying it is vital that it is reciprocated by the SAF personnel from
Abyei.
“It is vital that this now be reciprocated by withdrawal of all
Sudanese Armed Forces personnel from Abyei. I urge the Government of
Sudan to carry out its obligation to do so immediately.
“This will open the way for the return home of more than 100,000
residents of Abyei who have been living as refugees for the last year.
I commend the excellent work that the UN peacekeeping force has been
doing to ensure security for all Abyei’s communities, and urge all
concerned to facilitate the return of displaced persons.
“This is only one step in the roadmap towards a comprehensive
settlement of all outstanding disputes between Sudan and South Sudan,
as set out by the African Union and endorsed by the UN Security
Council. I urge both governments to work swiftly with the African
Union High-Level Implementation Panel to implement all remaining steps
in the roadmap.”
(ST)
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