Security Council asks to probe UN troops role in Sudan’s Abyei
June 24, 2008 (UNITED NATIONS) — UN Security Council asked the Secretary General to probe the root cause of last May clashes between northern and southern Sudan armies and the role of the peacekeeping mission in the disputed area of Abyei.
In a presidential statement, the Security Council members welcomed on Tuesday the roadmap agreement to break the deadlock between the two peace partners over the definition of Abyei border. The agreement intervenes three years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005.
However the Council asked Ban Ki-Moon to investigate the role played by the UN peacekeeping troops during the clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army on May 20. The fighting resulted in the displacement of the 50000 people from their homes.
The demand of probe also comes one week after harsh statements by UN envoy to Sudan Richard Williamson during an informal meeting of the UN Security Council against the United Nations mission in Sudan forces in Abyei.
He accused UNMIS of hiding in their barracks during the fighting instead of protecting Sudanese civilians in line with their mandate.
But the UN special envoy for Sudan Ashraf Qazi rejected the accusation saying UNMIS has “neither the capacity nor the mandate to militarily intervene or to provide law enforcement functions.” Law enforcement is the government’s responsibility, he added.
SAF and the SPLA deployed this week their troops in Abyei according to the security arrangements included in the roadmap of May 8. The move should be followed by the withdrawal of the troops of the two armies from Abyei and the return of the displaced population on June 30.
The presidential statement called on all sides to allow immediate humanitarian relief to be brought to the displaced and support for their voluntary return to their former homes as soon as an interim administration and agreed security arrangements are in place.
The members of the Security Council further urged the UN mission to deploy personnel in and around Abyei as needed to help reduce tensions and prevent an escalation of the conflict.
“The Security Council urges the parties to use the opportunity created by the signing of the Road Map to resolve all outstanding issues related to CPA implementation and welcomes the parties’ commitment to take unresolved issues to arbitration as necessary,” the statement said.
UNMIS is a 10,000-strong U.N. force, whose job it is to ensure that the north and south are complying with a 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war.
The 2005 peace deal left open the future status of Abyei, but leaders of northern and southern Sudan have prepared a “road map” to defuse conflict over the region and have decided to turn their border dispute over to an international court in The Hague for a final settlement.
(ST)