Security Council extends UN Abyei mission, approves more troops
May 29, 2013 (WASHINGTON) – United Nations Security Council (UNSC) extended on Wednesday the mandate of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) for six months, and increased its troops by more than 1,100 personnel.
The current mandate of the UNISFA was due to expire at the end of May.
On 23 May the assistant-secretary-general for peacekeeping operations, Edmond Mulet, briefed the UNSC about the situation in Abyei and the mission of the Ethiopian troops.
He also expressed the support of the UN chief to the demand to increase UNIFSA of 1,126 military personnel to protect monitors and support staff that will comprise the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM) .
The 15-member council unanimously adopted the resolution 2104 (2013) extending UNISFA mandate until 30 November, and decided further to increase the 4,200-strong troop presence in Abyei area to 5,326 peacekeepers.
The resolution welcomed the decision of the joint oversight committee taken on 3 May to declare Abyei as a weapons-free area and urged the two parties to make it effective.
The Council urged Sudan and South Sudan to “urgently finalize establishment of the Abyei Area Administration and Council, including by resolving the deadlock over the latter, and constitute the Abyei Police Service”.
Since the signing of an accord on 20 June 2011 over the interim administration, the two sides disagreed over the composition of these organs. Despite their efforts to bridge their differences, they still diverge on the share of every side in the legislative council.
South Sudanese ambassador to the international organisation, Akec Khol, welcomed the Council’s call to establish the local administration, and to ensure that Abyei is free of weapons. In addition, he reaffirmed Juba’s support to the UNSC request to withdraw Sudanese oil police from Diffra, in northern Abyei.
“We see these efforts as necessary for the establishment of a conducive environment for the impending Abyei Referendum”, he stressed.
Sudan’s ambassador, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, underlined that Abyei in accordance with the 2005 peace agreement remains a Sudanese territory and its government is responsible of the security of its people who are all Sudanese, he emphasised .
Osman further said there were suspicions of infiltration by armed elements and weaponry from the South, as well as of backing for rebels in Southern Kordofan.
He also reiterated Sudan’s commitment to hold a referendum in Abyei and said “the law on the Abyei Referendum had been enacted, and no party could nullify it”. The Sudanese diplomat was referring to Khartoum’s rejection to the African Union proposal to conduct the crucial vote on the fate of the region without the Misseriya nomads.
(ST)