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Sudan former foes not fully
withdrawn from Abyei: sources |
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KHARTOUM(August
12,2008) - Sudan's north and south armies have not
fully withdrawn from the disputed oil-rich Abyei region as called
for under a plan aimed at defusing tensions behind deadly clashes
in May, U.N. sources said on Sunday.
The fighting killed dozens of people, drove 50,000 from their homes
and burnt most of the town. Analysts said it created the biggest threat
to Sudan's landmark 2005 north-south peace deal that ended decades
of civil war in Africa's largest nation.
Ending years of deadlock over the critical oil-producing region the
former foes agreed an administration for Abyei on Friday, the final
part of a June road map, with Abyei's borders to be decided by an
international court and a joint armed force taking over security.
But the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission for the north-south
deal, Ashraf Qazi, in a statement on Saturday said the final withdrawal
was not yet complete.
"(Qazi) encourages the two parties to continue to move ahead
with implementation of the remaining road map provisions (including)
... final withdrawal of the forces of the two sides from the area."
U.N. sources, who declined to be named, on Sunday explained the northern
SAF still had a small contingent near the oil areas and that the former
southern rebel SPLA also had some military police in the peripheral
Agok area, both of which contravened the spirit of the June road map
which asked for full withdrawal.
"The joint military mechanisms are looking at dealing with these
issues," one source said.
The accord established joint north-south military committees to supervise
implementation of the security protocols.
U.N. spokesman Brian Kelly said the peacekeeping mission could confirm
that the main forces from both sides had withdrawn from Abyei town,
the site of the fighting in May.
"The SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) withdrew from the
area and the SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) Battalion 31 is also fully gone,"
he said, but could not comment on the remaining contingents.
About 150 members of the joint police force were on the ground and
the joint army unit was patrolling regularly, he added. The United
Nations was providing them with training, tents and food.
A senior SAF official Abdel Rahman Mohamedain said SAF had encountered
delays in redeployment because of heavy rains which had swamped roads
but that he was sure they had fully withdrawn.
"We will check on any outstanding troops but our information
is that there are no SAF troops in Abyei other than in the joint integrated
unit," he told Reuters.
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