Sudan police official calls on Abyei displaced to return

December 16, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese police official called for residents in the disputed town of Abyei to return home after violent clashes that erupted last week.

The recent fighting was a result of confrontation between policemen and a joint-patrol of the north Sudanese army and former southern rebel group Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

Two policemen were killed during the fighting renewed tensions in the region that witnessed more intense battles last May that ruined substantial portion of the town and led around 50,000 people to flee.

The deputy police director for operations General Tariq Osman Al-Tahir vowed that the prospective returnees would be fully protected along with their properties.

“The incident that occurred was not as big as media tried to portray it. It was limited and normal and could happen anywhere in Sudan” the police official told official news agency (SUNA).

General Al-Tahir also revealed that there will be an expansion of services in terms of producing photo identification for Abyei residents.

Concurrently the head of the joint units in Abyei Colonel Blantinyo Tok expressed regret over last week fighting and pledged to prevent it from happening again.

The military official said that it was “individual” act that triggered the clashes “and is not representative of any of the joint units”.

Tok expressed hope that situation in Abyei “will change into the better”.

Abyei lies just north of the disputed boundary line with Southern Sudan in a volatile region that remains contested despite the peace agreement. It is coveted by both north and south because of its oil resources and green fields used for grazing cattle.

According to the roadmap for the implementation of Abyei protocol signed on June 8, the international arbitration court is designated to settle the NCP-SPLM dispute over the finding of the Abyei Boundaries Commission.

(ST)