North South Sudan to hold talks in Ethiopia over Abyei - US State Department

young_mulla said:

Abyei is traditionally Dinka land so normally it should belong to the South. But the Dinka were slaughtered and chased out of the region for decades by the animals in the north, and even if they have the numbers the notherners will rig the referendum like they always do.

Click to expand...

Sudan Abyei shooting a 'pretext for war'

Shooting overnight by northern Sudan soldiers was an attempt to start clashes in the oil-rich region of Abyei, southern former rebels say.

SPLM spokesman Kuol Deim Kuol said four soldiers went into Abyei town's market and fired at random, wounding a trader.

He told the BBC it was a pretext to start trouble, as UN-mediated talks on Abyei's referendum ended in failure.

The people of Abyei are due to vote in January on whether the region should belong to north or south Sudan.

It is scheduled to take place on the same day as the south holds a referendum on whether to secede from north Sudan.

Both referendums were part of a 2005 peace deal to end two decades of conflict between the north and south, in which some 1.5 million people died.

Units of northern soldiers and southern SPLA soldiers are stationed in Abyei, where there are still disputes over voter eligibility and the physical demarcation of the state's border.

Lt-Gen Kuol said northern soldiers in barracks in Abyei town responded to the market gunfire by firing in the air from about 2100 until 0200 on Tuesday morning.

The SPLM spokesman said the shooting only stopped after the intervention of UN peacekeepers.

"They want to provoke a fight - and there was no fight simply because the SPLA officers who are part of the joint integrated unit managed to control the SPLA soldiers and they did not fire," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"They want to dishonour the peace agreement and they're looking for a scapegoat. It's just a pretext to start a war," he said.

Correspondents say there is much suspicion in the south that President Omar al-Bashir and his colleagues in the north are doing all they can to stop the referendum because they stand to lose out on vast amounts of oil in Southern Sudan.

At least 100 people died and 50,000 people fled their homes in heaving fighting in Abyei two years ago.

Click to expand...

young_mulla said:

I wish there were more peacekeepers in Abyei and on the border to protect the South

Click to expand...

15 October 2010 Last updated at 14:54 GMT

UN to boost north-south Sudan border security

UN troops will be boosted at "hotspots" along the north-south Sudanese border, amid fears of violence ahead of next year's vote on southern independence.

The UN Security Council says the decision follows an appeal by southern Sudan's President, Salva Kiir.

Correspondents say tensions are rising ahead of the referendum, due to be held in January.

The vote is part of a 2005 peace deal which ended two decades of conflict between the north and the south.

At the same time, residents in the disputed oil-rich central area of Abyei will vote on whether to be part of the north or the south.

In a statement to the Security Council on Thursday, UN ambassador Susan Rice confirmed that President Kiir had asked for a UN-run 10 mile (16km) buffer zone along the north-south border.

Ms Rice, just back from a UN mission to Sudan, said Mr Kiir had "warned that he fears the north may be preparing for war and may be moving troops southwards".

UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy later confirmed that UN forces in Sudan would step up border security in some areas.

"We will increase our presence but only in some hotspots," he said, adding that the UN mission did not have enough troops to create a buffer zone along the whole 1,250 mile (2,000km) border.

Between eight and 10 areas along the border - including the Abyei oil fields - are still in dispute.

Analysts say a clash at any of them could spark a military confrontation. Both sides have sent troops there.

Click to expand...