Sudan peace partners form a committee to probe Abyei clashes
May 27, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Naivasha partners agreed today to investigate the causes of the fighting between the northern and southern Sudanese troops in the disputed Abyei area on 18-19 May.
The Ceasefire Political Commission between the National Congress Party and the Sudan people’s Liberation Movement, in a meeting held on Tuesday agreed to form a committee to probe the fighting that displaced more than 500000 people from Abyei last week.
The UN mission in Sudan and the peacekeeping mission will take part in the committee that has to present its conclusion within three weeks.
The meeting also agreed to deploy the Joint Integrated Units with the national police forces in the area. The Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army have to remain in their initial positions and have no role to play in the contested area.
SAF and SPLA will withdraw their troops from the area as stipulated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement when the parties reach an agreement on Abyei and the Executive Administration of the area is established.
The deadlock over Abyei between the two partners of the CPA is motivated by the rejection of the conclusions of the Abyei Boundary Commission (ABC) by the National Congress Party, three years after.
The NCP says the experts exceeded their mandate to demarcate the border of Abyei, described in the CPA as “the nine Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms” transferred to Kordofan in 1905. it further adds that the Abyei Protocol limited the ABC to examining an ‘administrative’ boundary, and not a ‘tribal’ boundary.
However, the Protocol makes no reference to an administrative boundary in 1905. It refers, instead, to ‘the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms’. The mandate required the ABC to define the territory of the Ngok Dinka in 1905, which involved defining the tribal territory.
The NCP leading member Dardiri Mohamed Ahmed who is in charge of Abyei said following the meeting that the partners had agreed there would be no return to war again.
He added that the commission decided to make every effort to reassure the military and civilians there is no return to the war, also they decided to disseminate the culture of peace and the spirit of reconciliation.
The members of the commission further called upon the Sudanese Presidency to reach a political solution over the area.
Southern Sudan’s Interior Minister Paul Mayom Akec, for his part, explained that the political commission reaffirmed the need to expedite the return of the IDPs to Abyei, and to appeal the UN and humanitarian NGOs to provide humanitarian assistance to Abyei population.
Mayom said the presidency should consider to expedite the demarcation of border in accordance with AByei Protocol.
The meeting heard a report from Ashraf Qazi, UN Secretary General to Sudan on Abyei, and another report from the Ceasefire Commission.
(ST)