Scores flee Abyei violence as Misseriya threatens to enter area “by force”
March 5, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The surge of violence in Sudan’s disputed area of Abyei has forced thousands to flee, aid groups said, as south Sudan accused an unknown militia of burning a village in the area, and north Sudan-allied Misseriya tribe threatens to enter Abyei “by force” within 10 days.
The confrontations highlighted the tension associated with the onset of the migration season in which Misseriya tribesmen traverse the borders into Abyei, which is mainly populated by the south-linked Dinka Ngok people, to search for pasture for their cattle.
North and South Sudan, which both contest the oil-producing area, agreed in a meeting held on Friday to set up a joint committee to address insecurity in the area. The committee will adopt measures to ensure the implementation of a peace deal signed after the latest violence in January.
The deal, known as Kadugli agreement, promised the withdrawal of South Sudan police from Abyei and devolved the reasonability for security in the area upon the joint integrated units, formed between north and south Sudan as per the 2005 peace deal that ended civil war in Sudan.
Meanwhile, the United Nation Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which is mandated to monitor the 2005 peace deal that ended civil war between north and south Sudan, deployed extra 100 peacekeepers in the area to reinforce the existing force.
Abyei’s status was supposed to be determined via a referendum in January on whether to maintain its current administrative status in the north or join the south which chose to secede from the north in another plebiscite held in January.
The vote on Abyei never took place due to disagreements between southern and northern leaders over whether members of Misseriya can vote.
South Sudan officials said that militiamen allied with north Sudan burned a village in the area on Saturday. Speaker of Abyei area administration from the Dinka Ngok, Charles Abyei, told Reuters that the assailing militias burned all the huts in Tajalei village whose residents fled on hearing rumors of the attack.
Meanwhile, chieftains of Misseriya tribe promised north Sudan officials in a meeting held in Al-Mujlad town on Saturday to seek calm with the south in order to reach a lasting solution to Abyei.
However, Misseriya leaders warned that they would enter Abyei “by force” if they are not allowed to take their livestock to Bahr Al-Arab area in Abyei within “ten days,” as reported by the pro-government Al-Raed daily newspaper.
North and south Sudan fought a civil war for nearly half a century before they signed a peace deal known as the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. Under the deal, South Sudan voted to secede from the north and is expected to debut as the world’s newest nation in July.
(ST)