Kiir says Abyei ruling does not chase away other area residents

By: Ngor Arol Garang

July 24, 2009 (ABYEI) — The First Vice President of the republic of Sudan and President of the semi autonomous government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), Salva Kiir Mayardit, says the ruling does not chase away non- Abyei residents in the area.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Abyei’s award confirmed that the boundary of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905 are part of southern Sudan based on tribal understanding of the Abyei Boundary Commission (ABC) panel of experts.

It also said that their eastern boundary in 1905 does not extend to line of Upper Nile border and attributed the oil rich area of eastern Abyei to northern Sudan.

The borders of Abyei are particularly important to southerners because Abyei residents have been promised a referendum on whether to join southern Sudan in January 2011, under the terms of the peace deal.

In a letter he sent to chief administrator to be read out to the residents on Friday, he said that the Tribunal have more or less upheld the report of the Abyei Boundary Commission (ABC) which was issued in 2006.

Kiir said the task that was given to the Tribunal by the two parties was to establish whether the ABC had exceeded its mandate or not on the findings that came in their report.

“While the SPLM had welcomed and accepted the ABC report, our partner in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the NCP, rejected it. That was what led to seeking the intervention of the Permanent Court of Arbitration which dutifully set up a special tribunal to review the issue,” the letter stated.

The GoSS president reminded residents of Abyei that both parties, the SPLM and the NCP, have publicly declared their commitment to accept and abide by the Tribunal decision.

However, he said in the letter that the SPLM accepts the ruling not because it has come wholly in their favor adding that some aspects of the decision “will be received with disappointment by people of Abyei area, particularly when the full details begin to be absorbed”.

“But we had given our word and by our word we will stand” he said.

Kiir went on to explain what the verdict means for the residents of Abyei from both the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya ethnic group.

“Our understanding is that this decision is only a title deed. It does not mean that the non-Dinka residents from other ethnic groups will be asked to leave the area to the Ngok people. The Dinka and their Misseriya compatriots will continue to live in much the same way as they had always done,” the letter noted.

“The Misseriya herdsmen will never be negatively affected by this decision. The Ngok Dinka and other southern ethnic groups in Warap, Northern Bahr El Ghazal and Unity States have always affirmed their willingness to give access to the Misseriya and their large herds of livestock to the pastures and watering points in their areas during the dry season,” the letter adds.

Kiir said that “22 years of internecine warfare have demonstrated to most Sudanese that lasting resolutions to intractable problems are more easily achieved around a negotiating table than through the barrel of the gun”.

He also said that he took note of the positive remarks that have already come from some leaders of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

(ST)