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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed May 25 2011 - 16:41:00 EDT
UN proposes new peacekeeping force for south Sudan
Wed May 25, 2011 7:08pm GMT
* UN force in south Sudan to be called UNMISS
* UN: dispute over Abyei top threat to Sudan peace deal
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations has proposed a new
peacekeeping force of some 7,000 blue-helmeted troops for south Sudan once
it secedes from the north in July, according to a new U.N. report published
on Wednesday.
The proposal was made in a report from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and
coincided with a buildup of tensions in an oil-producing border region where
both sides have troops.
The current 10,000-member peacekeeping force in Sudan, known as UNMIS, is
expected to remain in place in the north but will gradually reduce its
presence in Khartoum.
Ban's report calls for that force to be kept on for three months after July
9, when the south officially splits from the north, to allow time for a
reorganization.
That would enable both sides to work out unresolved issues, "including
finding a mutually acceptable arrangement for monitoring the border," the
report said.
Diplomats and U.N. officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that
Khartoum does not want UNMIS to leave Sudan altogether though the Sudanese
government would prefer that it be less visible in Khartoum.
Ban's report said the new force should be called the United Nations Mission
in South Sudan, or UNMISS.
South Sudan voted to become independent in a referendum in January but
tensions have risen in the oil-producing Abyei border region where both
sides have built up forces.
Abyei residents were also supposed to have a referendum in January over
whether to join the north or south. Disputes over who could vote derailed
that ballot and talks over whether Abyei should be in the north or join the
south have stalled.
Ban's report said Abyei was "the greatest challenge to the implementation of
the peace agreement.
A U.N. spokeswoman said on Wednesday that tens of thousands of people fled
Abyei region as northern militias accused of helping seize the area over the
weekend moved farther south. [ID:nLDE74O0MB]
Ban told a high-level African Union meeting in Addis Ababa that the north
and south should "cease their military operations, withdraw all forces and
armed elements from the Abyei area, and desist from further acts of
aggression, including attacks on U.N. peacekeepers."
The proposed new force will have to be approved by the U.N. Security
Council, which visited Khartoum this week but was snubbed by senior northern
officials. The council will hold closed-door consultations on Sudan on May
27. (Editing by Doina Chiacu)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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Thousands flee Sudan's Abyei as militias move south
Wed May 25, 2011 6:51pm GMT
* North's move on Abyei seen as possible land grab
* Armed groups open fire on four U.N. helicopters
* Seizure of Abyei shakes political balance
(Adds Ban Ki-Moon comments in paragraphs 18-19)
By Ulf Laessing and Jeremy Clarke
KHARTOUM/JUBA, May 25 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people fled Sudan's
contested Abyei region as northern militias accused of helping seize the
area over the weekend moved further south, the United Nations said on
Wednesday.
Armed groups, thought to be northern militias, also opened fire on four U.N.
helicopters in Abyei on Tuesday, a U.N. spokeswoman said.
North Sudan sent tanks into Abyei, a central, oil-producing region claimed
by both north and south Sudan, on Saturday, sparking an international
outcry.
The move came at a highly sensitive time for Sudan, less than seven weeks
before the country's south is expected to declare independence from the
north, as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war.
Abyei was a key battleground in Sudan's last civil war and a symbolic emblem
for both sides. The region is used all year round by the south-linked Dinka
Ngok people and for part of the year by northern Arab Misseriya nomads.
Analysts fear further north-south fighting over the region could spark a
return to full-blown conflict, a development that could have a devastating
impact on the surrounding region.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged north and south to return to the
negotiating table and resist "further acts of aggression."
"We must all impress on the parties that military confrontation in Abyei is
not an option," he told heads of state at an African Union meeting in Addis
Ababa.
Thousands of Abyei residents initially fled to the town of Agok, just over
the border into south Sudan, said aid groups.
U.N. and aid agencies said up to 40,000 had now been forced to leave their
homes and were moving deeper into south Sudan.
"There are enormous numbers of people now on the road from Agok to Turalei,
on muddy roads. Many kids need to be treated for dehydration," said Gustavo
Fernandez, programme manager with aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres.
Most refugees in Agok were living under trees, while 2,800 had found shelter
in a local school, said the Anglican Alliance aid group.
"Civilians are down on streets and in bushes, no food, no shelter, no water
and no medical assistance," the Anglican church umbrella group said in a
report.
Misseriya militias started pushing further south after people left the
region's main settlement Abyei town, said U.N. spokeswoman Hua Jiang.
"There are reports that they are moving south," she said.
Southern army spokesman Philip Aguer accused the north of using the
Misseriya to carry out a land-grab ahead of the separation of the south.
"Misseriya are being transported by SAF (the northern army) to Abyei. They
want to claim the land," he told Reuters.
NORTH DEFIANT
U.N. General Secretary Ban Ki-moon urged north and south to return to the
negotiationg table and resists "further acts of aggression."
"We must all impress on the parties that military confrontation in Abyei is
not an option," he told heads of state's at an African Union meeting in
Addis Ababa.
Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir defied U.S., U.N. and other calls to
pull back, saying Abyei belonged to the north. "We will not withdraw from
it," he said in Khartoum on Tuesday.
The north's show of force could shake a fragile political balance that has
held in Africa's largest country since the 2005 deal ended the vil war that
left millions dead.
It could also delay the restoration of normal diplomatic relations between
north Sudan and the outside world.
The United States on Monday ruled out dropping it from a terrorism list and
restoring Washington's ambassador to Khartoum if it continues to occupy
Abyei.
A total of 14 rounds were fired when the United Nations helicopters took off
from a U.N. compound in Abyei town on Tuesday but they landed safely, U.N.
spokeswoman Jiang said.
Jiang said Misseriya militias supported by Khartoum were probably
responsible for the attack.
Fighting and looting -- some of which targeted supply bases of U.N. agencies
-- had died down, she added.
Northern forces had deployed military aircraft at a northern airbase in El
Obeid within striking distance to Abyei, said the Satellite Sentinel Project
(SSP), a monitoring group.
"The presence of these attack-capable planes in close proximity to Abyei is
consistent with reports of SAF (northern) bombing attacks in Abyei within
the past five days," said SSP.
No reliable casualty figure have emerged yet as aid agencies struggle to
reach Abyei. Britain's ambassador in Khartoum, Nicholas Kay, wrote on his
blog that two embassy staff had lost relatives in the disputed region.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa; Writing by Tom
Pfeiffer in Cairo; Editing by Matthew Jones)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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Q+A-North Sudan army takes control of Abyei region
Tue May 24, 2011 8:36pm GMT
CAIRO May 24 (Reuters) - More than 15,000 people have fled Sudan's Abyei
region to the south after the northern army seized the disputed area and
parts of the main town were burned and looted, United Nations officials
said. [ID:nLDE74N1C3]
Here are some questions and answers on Abyei:
WHY IS ABYEI IMPORTANT?
War, politics and oil. Analysts fear continued north-south fighting over the
border region could reignite full-blown conflict in Sudan -- a development
that would have a devastating impact on the surrounding, already fragile
region.
Both north and south Sudan want oil-producing Abyei for political,
commercial and highly-charged emotional reasons.
The issue has become even more pressing in the countdown to the secession of
the south, expected to take place in July.
Southerners voted to declare independence from the north in a January
referendum promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended the last north-south
civil war and are determined to take Abyei with them.
WHAT IS AT STAKE?
Abyei was a key battle ground in the last civil war and has become a
symbolic emblem for both sides.
Its fate has also become tied up in local politics. Abyei is occupied all
year round by the Dinka Ngok people with strong ethnic links to the south
and many of the south's most powerful leaders.
It is also used for part of the year by northern Arab nomads from the
highly-armed Misseriya tribe who fear they will lose grazing land if Abyei
heads south.
Khartoum has relied on the Misseriya to fight on its side in a number of
conflicts and is determined to keep their loyalty.
Abyei contains one significant oilfield -- Defra, part of a block run by the
Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC), a consortium led by
China's CNPC. With most of Sudan's oil firmly in the south, the north wants
to keep control of as much of its border reserves as it can.
WHY DID THE NORTHERN ARMY MOVE IN?
The northern and southern armies last week accused each other of launching
attacks in Abyei. North Sudan says it sent in troops to clear out southern
soldiers who it said had broken agreements by entering the area. South
Sudan's government sees it as a ploy by Khartoum to provoke war and derail
secession. Analysts say Khartoum has lobbied for a referendum on Abyei's
future status to be abandoned, built up military forces around the area,
supported Misseriya militia and made raids into Abyei. Some see the northern
army's move into Abyei as a land grab to prevent it becoming part of the
south.
HOW MIGHT THE SOUTHERN GOVERNMENT REACT?
Southerners will be loath to abandon Abyei and set a precedent that might
encourage the northern government to seize oil fields and land along a
border which has yet to be clearly traced. The region has emotional,
symbolic and strategic significance, but analysts say many in the south do
not think Abyei is worth fighting for. "This may have changed with the
Sudanese Armed Forces' occupation," said Douglas Johnson, a Sudan expert and
former member of the Abyei Boundaries Commission.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?
Foreign powers may seek to calm tensions through mediation after the
northern army's show of force in Abyei, which raises the risk of broader
conflict ahead of southern secession. Abyei is seen as a microcosm of all
the conflicts that split Sudan for decades. A new border war could open a
new front in Darfur and encourage uprisings in other parts of Sudan. The
United States and European governments have strongly criticised the northern
government's seizure of Abyei, which raises the risk of new sanctions being
imposed on Khartoum. China, seen as more indulgent towards Bashir, may also
be uneasy as harsher sanctions on the north could threaten its interests in
Sudanese oil. (Reporting by Tom Pfeiffer and Ulf Laessing; Editing by Andrew
Heavens)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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