Abyei Arbitration court redefines bonders of the disputed area

July 14, 2009 (THE HAGUE) — The Abyei Arbitration Tribunal (AAT) stated today that the experts of Abyei Boundary Commission (ABC) partially exceeded their mandate and redefined the border of the disputed area.

“The Tribunal finds that the ABC Experts’ decisions regarding the eastern and western boundary lines were in excess of mandate for failure to state sufficient reasoning. For the Tribunal, the selection of the western boundary line by the ABC Experts was entirely unreasoned,” worded the award of the Tribunal.

Accordingly, the five members’ court in The Hague set new borders for Sudan’s disputed area of Abyei and left control of the Heglig oil field with the northern Sudan.

The Sudanese president had rejected the ABC findings of July 2005 and refused to implement it during more than three years.

After bloody fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in May 2008, the parties agreed on a roadmap to resolve the dispute.

The AAT had to examine the ABC conclusions which awarded the central Sudan region to Juba and to redefine it if they find that the Commission exceeded its mandate.

(ST)