South Sudan denies deployment of its forces in Abyei

By James Gatdet Dak

July 19, 2009 (JUBA) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) denied reports that its forces have deployed in the disputed oil-rich Abyei area in anticipation of the ruling in The Hague for the region’s boundaries.

The United Nations Special Representative to Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, alleged that the SPLA forces were confirmed by the UN to have deployed in Abyei area in violation of the roadmap agreement signed in June last year between the former warring parties in Sudan. Qazi said that the SPLA elements are present especially in and around Agok.

In another such indication, the UN Secretary General reported to the Security Council on July 14 that the movement of UNMIS peacekeepers is restricted in the Akur area, south-west of Agok, where SPLA denied access claiming that Akur was part of Bahr el Ghazal State. He told the Council that this restriction “affects the ability of UNMIS to take timely action to prevent any escalation.”

However, SPLA Spokesperson Major General Kuol Deim Kuol described the allegations as “baseless” and said the UN envoy in Sudan was a victim of misinformation. “Ashraf is a victim of misinformation by the National Congress Party (NCP) to cover up the SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) build-up in oil fields in Abyei area,” he said.

General Kuol in a press conference he held on Sunday in Juba said the forces of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in Abyei were not aware of such allegations.

He explained that the man in charge of the UN peacekeeping forces in Abyei, Brig General Saeed Abdel Hadi, a Zambian national, denied any knowledge of SPLA forces build-up in Abyei.

Kuol further explained that Brig. Gen. Saeed confirmed that SPLA forces did not deploy in Agok as alleged. He added that the UN military officer in charge of Abyei said he did not report to Khartoum anything about the alleged deployment of SPLA forces in Abyei.

The SPLA’s spokesperson, who was accompanied by Col. Malaak Ayuen, wondered from where the UN envoy got the alleged information since the officers in charge of UN forces in Abyei were denying the information. “Where did Ashraf Qazi get his information from?” asked Kuol.

“There is no build-up of SPLA forces in Agok. They have never sent any information to Khartoum about SPLA forces build-up,” Kuol quoted statements from Brig. Gen. Saeed.

Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, Government of Southern Sudan Head of Mission to the United States, said too from Khartoum that the charge is false and deliberate misinformation. “We dismiss this as not founded and this is a propaganda by the Sudan Armed Forces to conceal what they are about to do in the day of the Permanent Court of Arbitration award. We the GOSS and SPLA are inviting the UN and the international bodies to come to Abyei town and Agok to verify this baseless claim.”

The SPLA spokesperson said the aim of the NCP’s misinformation was to find a way to delay the announcement of the decision in The Hague as it had earlier proposed.

Both Kuol and Pagan Amum, Secretary-General of the SPLM, said today that the remarks attributed to Mr. Ashraf Qazi, the UN representative in Sudan, on the presence of SPLA forces in Abyei have coincided with the presence of a unit of protection of the First Vice-President Salva Kiir Mayardit. This Force had been in Al-Mujlad, Kadugli and Abyei and was on its way to southern Sudan through the Agok area after the conclusion of the visit of the first Vice President to southern Kordofan.

The bodyguards were accompanying Vice President Kiir during his visit to the area last week and also left with him, they said.

The parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the North-South war in 2005, after three years of stalemate while trying to implement the Abyei Protocol, agreed in a roadmap in June last year to take the Abyei boundary issue to a court of arbitration.

In April this year, representatives of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Sudan government represented by the National Congress Party (NCP) presented their final hearings in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague.

The Court’s ruling to determine the boundaries for Abyei is expected to be announced in The Hague on Wednesday, July 22.

SPLA Gen. James Oath reiterated that his soldiers are committed to respecting the Abyei Road Map and invited independent journalists to visit Abyei to cross check the allegation. He advised journalists to cross check before announcing any news.

SPLM and NCP have taken measures in the area ahead of the announcement of the decision, said Amum from Khartoum, pointing to a dialogue with the residents of the area from the Dinka and Missiriya, who have committed themselves to accept the result and vowed to remain calm and not to cause problems after the announcement of the resolution.

“We are committed to Abyei roadmap and the CPA implementation,” said Gatkuoth.

Likewise, Kuol said that the SPLA will continue to respect the CPA, the roadmap agreement on Abyei and the ruling on decision of Abyei’s boundaries in The Hague as scheduled.

(ST)