Sudan awaits Abyei border ruling

21/07/2009| IslamWeb

Sudan is preparing for a court ruling that will settle a border dispute in the oil-rich district of Abyei, which has been a flashpoint for tensions between the Khartoum government and former rebels in the south.

The United Nations has deployed extra peacekeepers to the district amid fears that Wednesday's decision could spark a repeat of last year's clashes that left at least 100 people dead.

The Abyei Arbitration Tribunal in The Hague, appointed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, will rule on whether the original Abyei Border Commission (ABC), which drew up the current district boundaries, exceeded its mandate.

If it rules in favor of the ABC, the present border line will stand. If not, the tribunal will decide where the border will lie.

The boundary dispute is important because under peace deal agreed between the north and south in 2005, Abyei will hold a referendum in 2011 on whether to retain special status within north Sudan, or join the south, where a simultaneous vote will be held on independence.

Violence 'expected'

Malik Agar of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which heads an autonomous regional government in the south, said that violence was to be expected but that neither side would allow it to get out of hand.

"The decision, of course, will not be without disappointment to either party," he said.

"We expect some violence may be there, but the two parties are prepared to quell any violence."

Ghazi Salahaldin, of the northern-based National Congress Party of Omar al-Bashir, the president, said: "We have committed ourselves to the arbitration and we are going to accept the ruling."

Abyei town was razed in the clashes in May 2008 and tens of thousands of people were left homeless, most of them ethnic Ngok Dinka loyal to the south, who have long had tense relations with the district's Messeria Arab nomads, regarded as loyal to the north.

The UN special representative expressed concern last week that armed groups involved in the fighting last May were reported to be in and around Abyei.

But on Monday Ashraf Qazi said that all unauthorized military units were pulling out of the district.

"We believe that action has been taken to ensure that the area will be clear of such elements, and that is very reassuring," he said.

Under the 2005 peace deal, the only forces allowed in Abyei are special joint north-south police and military units.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Sudanese man gathers branches as he builds a new roof for his destroyed house in Abyei, a contested oil-rich region on the border between North and South Sudan.

Al-Jazeera