Nafie threatens catastrophe if South Sudan attacks Abyei
January 4, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A senior Sudanese official has warned South Sudan of “catastrophic” consequences if its army attacked Abyei, saying that Khartoum would consider such move as the obituary of their deal on managing the hotly contested region.
The deal, which followed Sudan army’s seizure of the area in retaliation of an attack by southern troops, provided for the withdrawal of northern and southern forces from the area and the deployment of Ethiopian blue helmets.
However, the UN says both sides have failed to uphold their commitment to withdraw troops, and Sudan insists it will not withdraw unless the deployment of peacekeepers and other provisions of the deal are fully implemented.
Speaking to reporters in the Sudanese capital on Wednesday, Sudan’s Presidential Assistant Nafie Ali Nafie stressed that Abyei remains “northern” and warned that a unilateral action by Juba in the area would spell the end of Addis Ababa deal.
The Sudanese official further said that any attempt by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) of South Sudan to attack Abyei would yield “catastrophic” result on the newly independent country.
“But of course there is no justification for the SPLA [South Sudan’s army] to attack Abyei because there is a deal and Abyei is a northern area according to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA),” he added.
Under the CPA, which ended in 2005 nearly half a century of intermittent civil wars between the north and the south, Abyeis status was supposed to be determined through a vote.
But that plebiscite, which was originally scheduled for January last year, did not materialize as northern and southern leaders failed to agree on whether the north-linked Missirya nomads can vote.
In the same context, Sudan’s president Omer Al-Bashir said in a speech on Wednesday that Khartoum would continue to negotiate with South Sudan on Abyei without leniency on the provisions agreed upon in Addis Ababa.
(ST)
