Mesirya tribe leader urges resolution of Sudan’s Abyei dispute

Mar 29, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The leader of the Arab Mesirya tribe has called upon the Government of National Unity to resolve the Abyei border dispute between the Dinka Ngok and the Mesirya communities.

In an interview with Sudan Radio Service (SRS) in Khartoum on Friday, Mesirya leader Umda Erika Mohamed Osman called the dispute over the Abyei border “a manufactured conflict”, saying that it is aimed at continuing war between southerners and the Arab Mesirya in Abyei. Osman described the Mesirya community as people of peace and unity.

He appealed to President Omar al-Bashir and his two vice presidents to resolve the Abyei dispute, adding that the Mesirya and the Dinka Ngok will try to make peace among themselves if the Government of National Unity fails to resolve the dispute.

He said the Dinka Ngok, the Mesirya and the Rizigat communities were supposed to hold a reconciliation and peaceful co-existence conference in Aweil this month but the conference was delayed by the Arab Summit taking place in Khartoum.

The Mesirya leader also appealed to those Arab leaders meeting in Khartoum this week not to interfere with Sudanese affairs, but to help the government speed up the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

(SRS)