Sunday, May 22, 2011

Southern Sudan Appeals For International Help After Northern Sudanese Forces Seize Abyei

JUBA, Sudan — Southern Sudanese officials appealed for international help Sunday after northern Sudanese troops seized a disputed border town.

Foreign diplomats, meanwhile, condemned the occupation but stopped short of promising specific action to dislodge northern soldiers from a flash point that threatens to re-ignite the country's civil war.

Northern tanks rolled into Abyei Saturday night, scattering southern troops that were there as part of a joint security unit. The U.N. compound was also mortared. The move followed an attack on a convoy of northern soldiers on Thursday and two days of aerial bombardment of the area by the north.

"The present occupation (by the northern government) is illegal, this is the responsibility of the (U.N.) Security Council to see that they are withdrawn," said Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the south's information minister.

The northern army accused the south of violating a peace agreement and said the northern occupation of the area, including Abyei town, would continue until an accord could be reached that would guarantee security and stability in the region.

President Omar al-Bashir's northern ruling party said in a statement the northern armed forces were "entrusted with protecting Sudan's territory and stability and the security of its citizens in the south and north."

Both north and south claim Abyei, a fertile region near several large oil fields, and its disputed status has long been recognized as a potential trigger for violence. Hollywood actor George Clooney set up a project to monitor the area by satellite, fearing a confrontation between the two sides could draw Sudan back into the civil war that killed 2 million of its citizens.

The U.N. Security Council, which is visiting Sudan, released a statement Sunday blaming both sides for the violence. It said the south had attacked the convoy of northern soldiers and the north had escalated the confrontation by occupying Abyei.

Activist John Prendergast called for the international community to take tough action against northern Sudan, who he said regularly broke international agreements.

"Instead of more carrots from the international community it's time for real consequences," he said. "The U.S. should work with the U.N. Security Council to suspend the normalization process, freeze talks on debt relief, and impose target sanctions on the ringleader of this across-the-board escalation, presidential adviser Nafie Ali Nafie and others associated with this violence."

Southern army spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said the occupation of Abyei was an act of war by the north but that for now the south would not respond. Southern Sudan is no match for the north on the battlefield.

A Western diplomat interviewed by The Associated Press said countries would condemn the violence but it was unclear if they would take stronger measures because they did not have much leverage. He asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Al-Bashir, the northern president, is already subject to a travel ban and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for violence in the western region of Darfur.

President Barack Obama's envoy to Sudan said the occupation of Abyei was a "disproportionate" response by the north to hostilities that flared Thursday and could hurt U.S. relations with the Sudanese government.

"It inhibits the ability of the entire international community to move forward on a number of issues critical to the future of Sudan," said Ambassador Princeton Lyman.

But northern Sudan remained defiant Sunday, canceling planned meetings with U.N. officials, the Western diplomat said. The northern defense minister said the south has been "provoking" his troops.

"There is no way but to respond in kind," Gen. Abdul Rahim Hussein told the daily newspaper Al-Akhbar in an interview published Sunday.

The escalation follows an agreement by the two sides to withdraw all "unauthorized forces" from the area. But like many previous U.N.-brokered deals on Abyei this year, it was not fully implemented.

Southern Sudan fought the north for more than two decades before a 2005 peace deal offered the south the chance for independence. It overwhelmingly voted to secede in a January referendum and is due to become the world's newest country in less than two months. Abyei was also due to have a referendum but it was canceled mid disagreements over who was eligible to vote.

Benjamin, the southern information minister, said the north was an increasingly "unreliable partner." It was unclear how the occupation of Abyei would affect talks between the two sides on outstanding issues like citizenship for those living on the wrong side of the border.

The south is mainly animist and Christian and its people are linguistically and ethnically linked to sub-Saharan Africa. The north is overwhelmingly Muslim and many members of the government consider themselves Arabs. Most of Sudan's oil is in the south but the pipeline needed to export it runs through northern territory to a northern-held port.

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