Sudanese parties cancel meeting on Abyei confrontation – UN

May 21, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Talks sponsored by the UN mission in Sudan between the northern and southern Sudanese armies to end the fighting in have been postponed.

Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SAF) had reached an agreement last week to stop the fighting and to redeploy troops, however clashes resumed yesterday between the two parties who trade accusations of the responsibility of the breaches.

UNMIS spokesperson said today that a joint ceasefire military committee between SAF and the SPLA scheduled to take place today had been cancelled. The meeting which had to be chaired by the UN may be held on Thursday.

Also, the First Vice-President Salva Kiir could fly tomorrow to Khartoum to hold a meeting with the President Omer al-Bashir on Abyei fighting.

UN envoy for Sudan, Ashraf Jenhagir Qazi, regretted yesterday the the resumption of military confrontation after the parties had met at the level of Ceasefire Joint Military Committee (CJMC) on 18 May 2008. He said they had reached “a number of very important decisions.”

Kiir said today that SAF had to withdraw its infantry brigade from the town while the Sudanese army said it would not redeploy its troops as long as the SPLA exist in the disputed area.

In accordance with the CPA, a joint SAF-SPLA battalion has to be formed in the town of Abyei assigned to protect the area. But the SPLA redeployed 3000 force withdrawn from the Eastern Sudan in Akec and Majock around Abyei, this move pushed SAF to maintain the Infantry Brigade 31 in the area.

Deadly fighting erupted on Tuesday when the SPLA troops attacked at dawn the positions of the SAF infantry Brigade 31 in Abyei in a bid to take the control of the town. Khartoum said it lost 22 soldiers while Juba said no causalities among its troops.

(ST)