Sudan rivals agree to settle differences on oil-rich region of Abyei
The leaders of Sudan's northern and southern halves signed on Sunday a new ``roadmap'' for peace for the contested oil-rich Abyei region that, if implemented, could stop the nation's slide back into civil war
By Agencies |
KHARTOUM/SUDAN: The leaders of Sudan's northern and southern halves signed on Sunday a new ``roadmap'' for peace for the contested oil-rich Abyei region that, if implemented, could stop the nation's slide back into civil war.
President Omar al-Bashir, from the Arab-dominated north, and First Vice President Salva Kiir, of the south, agreed to refer the matter to international arbitration, for the first time, and set up a new interim administration for the troubled border region.
In a ceremony late Sunday, the two sides spelled out the details of the agreement, which also promised the U.N. free movement around the area, something it complained it was denied before.
The event, held in Khartoum's ``Friendship Hall,'' was packed with international dignitaries and Sudanese public figures. Sudanese dancers and singers, from both north and south, celebrated the occasion.
``This problem of Abyei, which was to undermine the unity in Sudan, will thank God, be used for building a unified Sudan,'' al-Bashir told the crowd.
Kiir said the new agreement ensures that the resources in the area are used to improve life along the north-south border area.
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He said the two sides are working to avoid a return to the two decades of ruinous civil war between north and south that only ended with a 2005 peace agreement. The fighting in Abyei has threatened to derail the agreement. The weeklong clashes last month drove up to 90,000 people from their homes, burned the town to the ground, and left at least 22 soldiers dead and hundreds injured.
The roadmap, drafted over the past week, allows the tens of thousands of displaced back to their homes. It sets up an interim administration to be headed by a southerner from Abyei appointed in two weeks time. His deputy would be from al-Bashir's party, according to the agreement.
The presidency would appoint the two officials. The 2005 peace agreement created a unity government between the one-time rivals, and accorded the south a semiautonomous status. During the relative calm the oil fields between the north and south were developed.
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Much of that oil is located in Abyei, which has long been claimed by both sides. It lies north of the boundary line between the two halves, but many in the southern leadership hail from that region. The region was accorded a special status in the 2005 peace deal because the two sides could not agree on its borders.
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A border proposed at the time by an international commission that would have put Abyei in the south, was rejected by the north. Since then there have been sporadic clashes between northern and southern forces but last month's fighting was the worst, prompting international warnings over a return to civil war.
Sunday's deal includes a commitment to a final resolution of the Abyei question. The two sides will choose an international arbitration agency to draw the border, and said they will be bound by its decision.
If they fail to agree on an agency within a month, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague would decide for them, Al-Dirdiri Ahmed, a member of al-Bashir's party, told reporters.
It was also agreed to let new forces from both sides to patrol the region within 10 days, along with a police force. Previously the two sides' forces operated independently.
The deal would ``restore peace and tranquility to the region,'' Ahmed said.
Yasser Arman, an official from the southern Sudan's People's Liberation Movement, called the agreement ``historic,'' and said it was also endorsed by local tribal chiefs from the ethnic African tribe of the Ngok Dinka and the Arab tribe of Misseriah, who often fought over grazing rights.
The tens of thousands of displaced would also be allowed back to their homes.
The agreement gives ``a new impetus for the two sides for a comprehensive peace,'' Arman said in his own press conference.
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