Dinka Ngok leaders meet Mbeki, reject proposals on Abyei

October 28, 2010 (JUBA) – A meeting held in Khartoum between the African Union (AU) chief mediator, Thabo Mbeki and Dinka Ngok traditional leaders on Wednesday reached a deadlock, after both parties failed to reach a compromise over certain issued proposed as pre-conditions for conduct of a referendum in the oil-rich Abyei region.

Preparations for the border region’s referendum are way behind schedule with leaders from the south and north unable to agree on vital issues.

Talks in Ethiopia collapsed earlier this month with Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party demanding that nomadic Misseriya tribe, who are aligned with the north, be given voting rights.

This has been rejected by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, which has governed the south since a 2005 peace deal, as they claim the Dinka Ngok are the only permanent residents of the area.

The two sides were due to reconvene for talks in Addis Ababa on October 27 but they have been delayed indefinitely.

A highly placed source told Sudan Tribune that prior to this meeting, Mbeki had met Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who reportedly distanced himself from the ongoing Abyei negotiations saga, instead putting blame on the Messeriya tribe.

In a phone interview yesterday, Abyei area MP, Arop Madut Arop confirmed the outcome of the Khartoum meeting, saying the Dinka Ngok traditional leaders were right to reject any proposal aimed at preventing their quest for a free, fair and transparent referendum.

“How can you as a mediator talk to aggrieved citizens on such matters? This is ridiculous and am not surprised that the Dinka Ngok leaders rejected any form of compromise with no clear grounds,” Arop said on phone.

The MP accused the Bashir’s party the NCP of using delayed tactics aimed at further postponing the Abyei referendum, which is due to take place on January 9.

On the same day southerners are due to begin voting in a referendum on independence from the north.

However, over the past few months, the north and south have been unable to agree on who should be allowed to vote in the Abyei referendum, demarcate the border or establish a committee to run the referendum raising questions about whether it can go ahead.

Mediators such as African Union and the US have started proposing alternative solutions to resolve the issue, which many fear could cause the two side to return to conflict.

Earlier this week, two senior SPLM officials said that south Sudan had accepted a U.S. suggestion that the south annex Abyei by presidential decree if the referendum did not go ahead and instead compensate the north for agreeing to a peaceful settlement on this contentious issue.

Under this new arrangement, the official said, the north could be compensated in the form of interest-free loans, to cover up to half the loss in oil revenues if the south secedes.

South Sudan, according to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) takes 50 percent of the oil revenues.

On Wednesday, Pagan Amum, the SPLM Secretary General told a forum of southern state governors that his party and their northern counterparts were close to striking a deal post-referendum issues, citing citizenship, security and currency.

An overall framework, he added, had been developed to handle the issue of integrating former rebels the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Joint Integrated Units (JIUs), which including members of the Sudan Armed Forces controlled by President Bashir.

(ST)