UNMIS says no decision made on additional troops to North-South Sudan borders

October 18, 2010 (KHARTOUM) –The UN’s top diplomat in Sudan said on Monday that that one company of UN troops – around 100 soldiers – had been moved to Abyei to diffuse mounting tensions in the disputed area.

In January, residents of Abyei are supposed to decide on whether they want to remain part of north Sudan or join the south, which may become independent after a separate but simultaneous referendum.

However, Sudanese officials have said that the Abyei referendum will likely be postponed as the North and South have failed to resolve their disagreements over the composition of the electoral commission, eligibility of voters and demarcating the borders.

U.S. brokered talks in Addis Ababa this month on Abyei between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) have collapsed and it is not clear how the deadlock will be cleared.

Haile Menkerios the Special Representative of the Secretary General in Sudan said today that the additional troops sent to Abyei were reserves from existing troop numbers that were already overstretched.

The deployment of UN troops to defuse tensions within the ceasefire zone was done “with the full knowledge of the two parties” and was “consistent” with the UN Mission in Sudan’s mandate, said Menkerios.

During a visit of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to Sudan this month, the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir requested that a buffer zone be created along the north-south border to prevent a possible eruption of violence.

He acknowledged the bitter exchanges regarding the a potential buffer zone using additional UN troops and alleged troop build ups near the border between the SPLM and NCP but said:

“Let me however state categorically, that while the Security Council and the Secretary General have expressed their readiness to consider additional support to address security concerns, no decision has yet been made by them for additional troops, their deployment or conditions of their deployment.”

Last week the Sudanese army reacted angrily to the announcement by the UN’s peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy that the world body intended to redeploy peacekeepers in the south to Abyei and other hotspots along the north-south border ahead of the referendum.

Menkerios appealed to the two parties to address the challenges that lie ahead “to see the peace process through to its peaceful, amicable and timely conclusion.”

He revealed that a meeting between, President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and Kiir was imminent, to smooth the way for further talks in Addis Ababa, which are due to recommence 27 October.

Last year the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) redrew the boundaries of Abyei, ceding key oilfields to north Sudan but gave the South most of the land including Abyei town which has huge areas of fertile land and one significant oilfield. The borders have yet to be demarcated to comply with the court’s verdict because of threats leveled by the Misseriya.

The SPLM has interpreted the ruling as meaning that the cattle-herding Misseriya tribe have no right to vote in areas assigned by the PCA to the Dinka Ngok.

The Misseriya — Arab nomads who use land in Abyei for seasonal pasture — have threatened to derail the referendum if they are not granted the same voting rights as the Dinka Ngok, settled farmers seen as favorable to joining the south.

The full text of the Special Representative’s remarks can be found here.

(ST)