African Union urges Sudan to pull out troops from Abyei

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

May 12, 2012 (ADDIS ABABA) – The African Union (AU) has commended South Sudan for withdrawing its police forces from the contested Abyei area and has urged Khartoum to immediately do the same.

The government of South Sudan on Thursday said that it had completely the withdrawal of 700-strong South Sudan Police Service (SSPS) as per a 2 May resolution of the UN Security Council. Resolution 2046 called on both sides to withdraw from all disputed areas and return to talks within 2 weeks and resolve the outstanding issues from South Sudan’s independence last year with three months.

The AU statement comes shortly after Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), Lieutenant General Tadesse Tesfay, in a letter addressed to the AU on Friday, confirmed the pull out by South Sudan.

The statement by the AU said, South Sudan’s move is complies with the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) road map, which was endorsed by the UNSC, aiming to create a lasting and peaceful settlement to pending disputes between Khartoum and Juba.

“The Chairperson of the Commission commends the Government of the Republic of South Sudan for making good on its pledge to withdraw from Abyei, in line with the letter it addressed to the AU regarding its acceptance of the Roadmap,” the statement said.

AU said the move by South Sudan is an important step forward to restore relations and to easing tensions as well as in paving the way to resume negotiations between the two former civil war rivals.

In May Last year, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) occupied much of Abyei in retaliation to an attack on its forces. For a year both sides kept forces in the area, the status of which was to have been decided in a refendum in January 2011 in a vote agreed as part of the 2005 peace deal that ended two-decades pf conflict.

Tensions over Abyei, and nearby Heglig, have led to fears that the two sides could return to war less than a year after South Sudan seceded in July last year.

In June 2011, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously authorised the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian peacekeeping forces to Abyei after leaders from Sudan and South Sudan – under the African Union sponsored mediation – signed an agreement in Addis Ababa to fully demilitarise the Abyei and allow an Ethiopian peacekeeping force to move in – to monitor disputed area.

The latest AU proposed Roadmap adopted was April, and subsequently was endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2046 (2012) of 2 May 2012, seeks a comprehensive settlement to all outstanding disputes between North and South Sudan including to agreement on establishing a temporary Security and Administrative arrangements for the Abyei and an immediate forces withdrawal from the area.

South Sudan on Friday accused its northern neighbour of refusing to withdraw forces from Abyei and called on the international community to pressure Omer Hassan Al-Bashir’s government to comply with the rulings of the UN and AU.

In his latest statement, the AU chief, Jean Ping, called on the government of the Sudan “to reciprocate and withdraw its forces from Abyei, in line with its acceptance of the Roadmap and the timetable contained therein. With the effective deployment of UNISFA, there is no longer need for any other force to remain in Abyei.”

Ping called on the two parties to “continue fully and unconditionally” implement the roadmap further reaffirmed a continued support from the continental bloc to resolve the dispute in all aspects.

The UK’s Minister for Africa Henry Bellingham welcomed the news, saying it is vital that it is reciprocated by the SAF personnel from Abyei.

“It is vital that this now be reciprocated by withdrawal of all Sudanese Armed Forces personnel from Abyei. I urge the Government of Sudan to carry out its obligation to do so immediately.

“This will open the way for the return home of more than 100,000 residents of Abyei who have been living as refugees for the last year. I commend the excellent work that the UN peacekeeping force has been doing to ensure security for all Abyei’s communities, and urge all concerned to facilitate the return of displaced persons.

“This is only one step in the roadmap towards a comprehensive settlement of all outstanding disputes between Sudan and South Sudan, as set out by the African Union and endorsed by the UN Security Council. I urge both governments to work swiftly with the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel to implement all remaining steps in the roadmap.”

(ST)