SPLM: Abyei talks due to resume next week in Ethiopia

November 6 2010 (JUBA) – A senior member of South Sudan’s leaderships says talks over the disputed territory of Abyei on the north-south Sudan will resume in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa next week.

Pagan Amum, Secretary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), told students from Abyei at Juba University on Saturday that he expects talks to resume on Saturday 13 November.

The students had taken to the streets protesting at the delay in the formation of commission to run the referendum and to express their rejection of the attempts by Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) to include members of the Misseriya tribe in the vote.

Abyei’s referendum and another vote in South Sudan, which could see the already autonomous region become fully independent, were agreed in a 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the SPLM and NCP.

In over two decades of civil war two million people died and around four million were forced to flee their homes according to the UN. The political impasse over Abyei is causing tensions to rise ahead of the referenda raising fears of a renewed north-south conflict. Both sides have accused the other of amassing troops on the shared border.

The first round of talks between the peace partners collapsed in mid October following disagreements over the composition of the commission and the definition of who would be eligible to vote at the referendum.

A delegation from the NCP presidential advisor, Salah Abdallah Gosh, demanded that the Misseriya, most of whom do not live in Abyei all year round.

However, the SPLM have rejected the Misseriya’s eligibility arguing that only the southern-aligned Dinka Ngok should be allowed to vote.

Secretary General Amum has accused the NCP of holding Abyei “hostage”. He has stated that the SPLM would be willing to pay a “ransom” for the contested oil-producing region.

“We are expecting resumption of the talks next week Saturday. The next round would discuss Abyei and post-referendum arrangements,” said Amum.

“The SPLM leadership remains committed to following right challenges and appropriate mechanisms to resolve the issue of Abyei. We will do the best we can to ensure that the issue of Abyei is resolved,” Amum told the protesters.

Political deadlock over the Abyei has led to some members of the NCP and some observers to call for the Abyei referendum to be postponed, a suggestion, which the SPLM has so far rejected out of hand.

It is believed that the NCP delegation for the forthcoming talks will be led by Sudanese Foreign Affairs Minister, Ali Karti, while the SPLM will again be represented by Amum, who also serves as the Minister for Peace and CPA Implementation in the southern government.

The pronouncement of resumption comes after the NCP official responsible for Abyei claimed that the Sudan’s ruling party wanted to sabotage the talks.

On Thursday, Dirdiry Mohamed Ahmed, criticized the SPLM’s opposition to allowing Misseriya voting rights or form part of the area’s referendum commission.

Amum, however, said that the upcoming talks in Addis Ababa would two options. Either the two sides would find a consensus on the Abyei Referendum Commission or they could agree to transfer of the region back to the south by Presidential decree as part of the deal or “ransom” as Amum has recently described it.

The US, Britain, China, Russia, Sweden and representatives from the United Nations and African Union are expected to participate in the Addis Ababa talks.

Yoahana Malwal Aduol, chairman of the students at Juba University, handed a letter to the minister outlining the rejection of the participation of Missiriya in the Abyei Referendum process.

“The CPA is clear. The Abyei protocol and the court ruling on Abyei are also clear to all. The Missiriyia have no any single reference to claim any right in Abyei,” said Aduol.

According to the Abyei Protocol in the 2005 peace agreement the Misseriya are not defined as residents of Abyei, but specifically ‘retain their traditional rights to graze cattle and move across the territory of Abyei’ (Abyei Protocol, article 1.1.3).

Douglas H. Johnson, a British expert and former member of The Abyei Boundaries Commission (ABC) wrote in 2007 that “The Abyei Protocol stated that ‘the territory is defined as the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905’ (Abyei Protocol, article 1.1.2), but the two sides could not agree on what the extent of that territory was.”

Misseriya traditional leaders reject Abyei protocol and the decision of arbitration tribunal. They also blame the Southern Sudan ruling party (SPLM) saying it caused the current tension in the oil producing area.

Mukhtar Babo Nimr, a traditional chief of the Misseriya, threatened last September to use forces to defend their rights in Abyei

“If they don’t accept our votes in the referendum there will be no voting,” Nimr said.

“We will use force to achieve our rights and we will use weapons against anyone who tries to stop us from voting in the referendum….If they don’t meet our demands then we will set everything alight. If that leads to war then so be it.” he warned.

The Misseriya fear if the south secedes and the north-south border becomes an international boundary, they will lose grazing rights to the land and their livelihoods.

(ST)