No end in sight for Abyei’s deadlock, Sudan’s NCP says it will not offer any concessions
December 7, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – The United States today acknowledged that the referendum in Abyei will not take place as scheduled next January as talks to break the deadlock over the oil rich region fail to make any headway.
“I think we have a recognition that that referendum will not go forward on January 9th, but we continue to encourage the parties to work on a solution to Abyei,” U.S. state department spokesperson Phillip Crowley told reporters.
“We continue to press the parties with respect to the situation in Abyei,” he added.
The Abyei referendum commission has not been formed because of disagreements between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) on who is eligible to take part in the polls.
The borders of Abyei were redrawn by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) after the NCP & SPLM agreed to refer the matter to it last year. However, the technical commission mandated with demarcating the borders on the ground have yet to start the process because of threats levelled by the Arab Misseriya tribe who objected to the PCA ruling.
The tribunal ceded 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 SPLM in control of the South 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.
However, the Misseriya vowed not to allow the vote to take place even if they have to resort to force unless they are allowed to participate.
In Khartoum, the head of the African Union panel on Sudan Thabo Mbeki held a meeting on Tuesday with president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and his First Vice President Salva Kiir for talks on the issue of Abyei.
Mbeki said that today’s meeting achieved considerable progress on the outstanding items and said he was pleased with the positive response he received on his proposal to resolve the political impasse. He added that both sides agreed on the main proposition he submitted but offered no details.
The former South African president said that he will continue discussions with the NCP and SPLM on his proposal and stressed that no problem is too hard to fix.
He added that today’s meeting did not address the formation of the Abyei referendum commission.
The head of the political bureau in the NCP Ibrahim Ghandour today said that his party “will not accept any packages from the international community or concessions on the issue of Abyei area regarding the conduct of the referendum in the region except in the framework of dialogue between the two partners”.
Ghandour told the government sponsored Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) that the NCP will not forfeit “the historical and legal rights of the Misseriya in Abyei region and will not accept any international deals from the United States or others working to keep Misseriya from exercising their normal activities in the region and depriving them from casting their ballots in the referendum on the region”.
He added that this message was conveyed to U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry during his two visits in October and November. The NCP official downplayed pledges of lifting sanctions or forgiving debt in return for concessions on Abyei.
(ST)
Peter Nhiany
No end in sight for Abyei’s deadlock, Sudan’s NCP says it will not offer any concessions
Khartoum is a headed rock government who does not think outside the box.
It does not matter what approach and strategy its want to take, Abyei will not be part of the North and the so call Messiryas whatever they are called will not take part in Abyei referendum. Abyei belongs to Dinka Ngok 9 kingdoms and will remains the same.
It is South government to decide whether group who claim to be Abyei’s citizens will be allowed in Abyei or not.
President Thabo is a Khartoum dealing making political man who do not want to put forward any prosposal that will angry Bashir because he will lose his gain.
I do not know why it took him so long to fix the problem if he is really down to business. I do not think any good out will come result as product of Thabo.
South will not accept going back to war because our government put its people first than its political interest unlike Khartoum of National Criminal Party (NCP).
Peter Nhiany.
Anyang
No end in sight for Abyei’s deadlock, Sudan’s NCP says it will not offer any concessions
Then,UDI will be the choice for Abyei’s people to attained their GOD-given land in the light of this unjustify deadlock.
Bol Deng
No end in sight for Abyei’s deadlock, Sudan’s NCP says it will not offer any concessions
Are Arab nomads South Sudanese or Northerners?
if they are Northerners then why do they interfere with the right of South Sudanese who want to join their southerners. NCP must allow the Dinka Ngok to decide their destiny without Misseria because Northerners are having no right for this referendum. This game is a child game whereby a child cry when older child snatched something in his/her hands. NCP must leave who is the residence of Abyei for the demarcation of South and North border. NCP must know that they are playing with fire about problem of Abyei.
Omoni Atari
No end in sight for Abyei’s deadlock, Sudan’s NCP says it will not offer any concessions
There is nothing we can do now,i want to urge GOSS prepaerd for war,just borrow some jet fighters,tanks and anti-missels[sams] now and now.
Young Nation
No end in sight for Abyei’s deadlock, Sudan’s NCP says it will not offer any concessions
Watch out media groups!
The media groups need to be very careful when reporting political issues. The International Court rulling on Abyei did not offer major oilfields to the North. This is an incorrect information.
The truth is that, the Cour only excluded Miram and Heglig from Abyei as these areas do not falls wih the jurisdiction of Abyei area. This does not mean the Court gave Miram and Heglig oilfields to North Sudan. Miram is known to be part of Northern Bar Ghazzal and Heglig part of Unity State State. These areas will be counted as parts of South Sudan when the time come for North/South border demarcation and delineation. What then qualifies these areas to be part of Northern Sudan?
Young Nation is a Student of BA (International Relations) at The University of Queensland, Australia
Aleu
No end in sight for Abyei’s deadlock, Sudan’s NCP says it will not offer any concessions
Message to the SPLM/GOSS and all Southern Sudanese people.
We want you to works on referendum election first and leave that pending problems of Abyei’s demarcation borders to be solve later and we will coming back to define what the whole Sudan name mean to all Black African people who are in Sudan nation.? We Southern Sudanese people will be talking about Omdurman and the Kosti areas leave about Abyei in Bahr el Ghazal regions that is inside Southern Sudan. These so call Misseriya Nomads that are movable will be very sorry in years to come. When Former president transfered Abyei region to Central Sudan it was not being transfers with Misseriya name, because Jaafar al Nimiery knows the Abyei region belong to Dinka Ngok chiefdom and I don’t see any reason why Arab Nomads are claiming for. The SPLA have spent 21 years fighting with Sudan government for those unfair and Southern Sudanese are fearless to take another 20 years to see Omdurman and Kosti issue.
The NCP and their Misseriya Arab tribe will have to decide if they want to have a bad relations with Southern Sudan then, we can shut down the Nile water who runs to Khartoum to see how that relationship will look like in their future. The Misseriya who moved from Eastern Sudan region to Central Sudan then, later came to Abyei for water and animals grazing are now claiming they have a rights to vote please give me a break, we do not want any small area to give away from Abyei region this is purely Dinka Ngok region and Southern Sudan land.
The SPLM/GOSS must not accepted any condition on the Abyei demarcation border, we can do this by all mean and even allowing Misseriya to bring their animals to grazing and water is unacceptable at this stage now. SPLM must know that, the Kosti is the demarcation borders when the Sudan was divided in to two regions in 1905 and that is the border we Southern Sudanese people want to go in there but the Idea of fear tactics made by NCP and his Arab Nomads Misseriya have no room not this time.
Frak Cho
No end in sight for Abyei’s deadlock, Sudan’s NCP says it will not offer any concessions
Dear Southerners,
You can see by yourselves that the Arabs are trying force unity.
The poor Missaryia are not aware that they are being use by few individual having power in name of Islam/Arabs like the Darfurians who lost most of their lives in the South when they were being use against the South during the war.
Please Missariyia, think twice!!
Padiet Deng Alony
No end in sight for Abyei’s deadlock, Sudan’s NCP says it will not offer any concessions
How come a nomad cliam that it has a right to vote, you just come to Abyei for green pasture. the term nomad only is convincable that mean the one who have no land moving from place to place. you will not even get portion of land from Abyei the land of Southern Sudan till Jesus come.go back to where your grandfathers eat donkeys that will be the right chioce for you.