Region | Sudan
South Sudan says its troops are out of Abyei
South Sudan's army said on Saturday it had finished pulling out of the oil-rich Abyei area where southern troops clashed with Khartoum's forces in May, but accused the northern army of foot-dragging.
- Reuters
- Published: 22:42 July 12, 2008
Juba, Sudan: South Sudan's army said on Saturday it had finished pulling out of the oil-rich Abyei area where southern troops clashed with Khartoum's forces in May, but accused the northern army of foot-dragging.
"We have pulled out. The forces are south of Abyei," Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) Spokesman Peter Parnyang said, adding that the former southern rebel movement was "seriously disappointed" that the northern army remained in the area.
Battles between the two forces in Abyei led to the displacement of some 50,000 people.
Both sides missed a June 30 withdrawal date agreed by the SPLA's political arm, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), and Khartoum's ruling National Congress Party.
Verified
A senior official in the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan said the SPLA's redeployment had been verified by their monitors.
An SPLA soldier shot and wounded a UN and a northern army monitor last week and the northern withdrawal stopped, he said. "But they have now restarted," he added.
Under a June roadmap agreement signed by the two sides, the area is to be governed by a temporary administration led by an SPLM official with a northern deputy.
The roadmap also agreed to refer the issue of Abyei's disputed borders, which would decide whether one of Sudan's two largest oil fields is in north or south Sudan, to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Abyei and the south will vote in separate referendums in 2011 on secession from the north.
News Editor's choice
-
Allies quit ruling coalition in Nepal
Political row could trigger months of street protests and violence
-
Qatar blaze 'started at nursery'
Fire killed 19 including 13 children, at Doha’s main shopping centre
-
Jagan jailed over illegal assets
Andhra Pradesh leader accused of corruption, cheating, conspiracy
