Sudan’s defence minister vows cooperation with Abyei peacekeepers

October 30, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Defense Minister, Lt. Gen. Yassin Ibrahim Yassin said his country would cooperate with the United Nations peacekeepers in Abyei (UNISFA) by providing all facilities needed for accomplishment of their tasks.

Ibrahim, SUNA reported, made the remarks during a meeting with the Special Envoy of UN Secretary-General for the Horn of Africa, Hanna Tetteh in Khartoum on Thursday.

He reiterated Sudan’s commitment to an agreement with South Sudan on Abyei region.

Ibrahim said Sudan would address all obstacles facing the two countries within the bilateral framework between the two countries in support of security, peace and stability.

Last week, Sudan and South Sudan agreed to strengthen cooperation between the two countries to resolve the final status of Abyei. The deputy head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo and South Sudan’s security advisor, Tut Gatluak Manime inked the deal on behalf of their nations.

The two officials stressed the need to expedite the joint mechanism and facilitate the provision of peace, security, and humanitarian services to the people in the area.

UNISFA’s establishment came after the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) reached an agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to demilitarize Abyei and let Ethiopian troops monitor the area.

Abyei an area on the border between South Sudan and the Sudan that has been accorded special administrative status by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended Sudan’s civil war.

Under terms of the Abyei Protocol, which was part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Abyei residents have been declared, on an interim basis, to be simultaneously citizens of Sudan’s West Kordofan State and South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal State until Abyei’s permanent status is determined through a referendum.

(ST)