Abyei remains top issue to settle with Sudan, says Kiir
May 3, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, says the fate of the disputed oil-producing border region Abyei remains his government’s top priority following the country’s secession from Sudan in July 2011.
Kiir’s imminent visit to Khartoum will be his first since October 2011.
South Sudan suspended oil-production more than a year ago over a dispute related to transit fees which Khartoum had requested for the use of its pipelines.
However, relations have dramatically improved since March when both sides said they would implement a cooperation agreement signed in September 2012.
In April, Sudan’s president Omer Hassan al-Bashir, along with a high-level delegation, visited Juba for the first time since attending South Sudan’s independence celebrations.
However, the closed door talks with Kiir brought no breakthrough on the thorny issue of Abyei.
Kiir sought to maintain a previous arrangement over legislative and executive power sharing in the area’s local administration which gives South Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) a 60% stake and Sudan’s governing National Congress Party (NCP) 40%, but Bashir argued for an equal distribution of council seats.
Speaking to reporters shortly after meeting cabinet minister, Deng Alor Kuol, on Thursday, Kon Manyieth, the former head of physical infrastructure in the Abyei Area Administration (AAA), said he had come to Juba on a friendly visit and to update the ruling party’s leadership on the current situation in the area.
The official, who led the local delegation, said he had a “fruitful” briefing with Kuol, who in return briefed them on his April visit to the United States and the African Union (AU) headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where diplomatic talks on the Abyei issue were held.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday following the meeting, Kon said he had briefed Kuol about the general situation in Abyei, including Sudan’s settlement plans of the nomadic Arab Misseriya tribe, who it’s claimed are receiving direct support from the Sudanese government to settle in the area.
Kon said discussions were also held on the continued killing and raiding of cattle and burning of villages in the area by Khartoum-backed militias.
As per the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), South Sudan wants a referendum to resolve the issue, with only those permanently residing in the area allowed to vote. Juba predominantly defines this as members of the Dinka Ngok, who would be expected to vote for Abyei to become part of South Sudan.
However the plebiscite, originally scheduled for January 2011, has been delayed over disputes over who is eligible to take part in the vote and the composition of the relevant institutions. Khartoum argues that members of the Misseriya tribe, who enter the fertile area with their cattle for parts of the year, should also be allowed to cast a ballot.
A proposal submitted by the AU’s Sudan mediator, Thabo Mbeki, effectively excluding the nomadic Misseriya was summarily dismissed by Sudan.
Kon claims that alleged attacks on the area is part of a wider strategic plan by the Sudanese government, aimed at sabotaging and deterring the natives of Abyei from returning to their original homeland north of the town and thus preventing them from participating in the proposed referendum vote in October.
“The massive settlement plan of the members of the Misseriya in the area and the continued killing and burning of the villages is a political scheme of the government of Sudan. The strategic objective is to deter our people from returning to their original places north of Abyei. These are part of the strategic plans of the government of Sudan. We know it very well. So we have to alert our leadership and our people who are living here in Juba and in other states of South Sudan”, Kon said.
According to Kon, Kuol made assurances at the meeting that the issue of Abyei remained a top priority among a number of post-secession issues still to be settled with the Sudanese government.
“Minister Deng Alor also briefed us of his meeting with the president Salva Kiir after his recent visit to the US and Addis Ababa … and the president assured him of his commitment to pursue the issue of Abyei as one of his top priorities”, said Kon.
SERIOUS DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENT
South Sudan’s foreign affairs and international cooperation minister, Nhial Deng Nhial, also said on Friday that his country is seriously engaging Sudan in diplomatic discussions over the area.
“There is a very serious effort under way to get talks to convince Sudan to accept the African [Union] proposal as the basis of resolving the conflict over the area. A lot of resorts are being devoted … and efforts are given to the issue of Abyei. We are engaging Sudan to accept the African [Union] proposal because it is the only way differences as these are resolved in the entire world. [A] referendum is always the solution”, Nhial said in a separate interview with Sudan Tribune on Friday.
(ST)