SPLM’s Luka Biong rejects conditional withdrawal of troops from Abyei
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October 4, 2011 (JUBA) - Luka Biong Deng, a senior member of the South
Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Monday
rejected the conditional withdrawal of the troops from the contested
region of Abyei.
JPEG - 31.4 kb
SPLM’s Luka Biong, August 4, 2011 (Enough Project)
Biong said the government of North Sudan is playing on what it
believes is the ignorance of the people of Sudan and South Sudan
regarding the terms of the June Agreement on Abyei signed in Addis
Ababa.
Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) spokesman, Sawarmi Khaled Saad, recently told
AFP “The Sudanese troops will withdraw from Abyei after the Ethiopians
complete their deployment in the area.”
“There is no ambiguity here”, said Biong, quoting the June Agreement:
“the redeployment of Sudanese military forces (Sudan Armed Forces and
Sudan People’s Liberation Army) from Abyei Area, immediately
consequent on the deployment of an Interim Security Force for Abyei
(ISFA) composed of Ethiopian troops.”
He said that the ISFA forces have deployed over 1,800 soldiers,
outnumbering the SAF forces and if the UN wishes to "supplement these
forces and their equipment after the rainy season that is up to them,
but their capacity to protect civilians is undeniable,"
"The specific force strength was never agreed to by the parties or
made a precondition to the SAF and SPLA withdrawal from the area,”
explained Biong.
Biong resigned his ministerial position in the Khartoum government in
May due to the "war crimes" being committed in Abyei.
He noted that the security arrangement section of the June Agreement
states, “With the exception of ISFA, the Abyei Area shall be
demilitarized. Any SAF and SPLA forces shall redeploy out of the Area.
Henceforth, all other forces, apart from the ISFA shall remain
outside of the boundaries of Abyei Area, as defined by the Permanent
Court of Arbitration.”
“The agreement exists and there is nothing that preconditions the
withdrawal of armed forces on either the status of the Abyei
Administration or some fiction regarding what constitutes the
“complete deployment” of the ISFA forces. Also, nothing in the
provisions of the Agreement regarding the formation of the Abyei
Administration (Section I) or the mandate of the UNISFA forces
(Section V) mention SAF or SPLA withdrawals – not expressly or even
impliedly”, said Biong.
He rejected a statement attributed to Saaf alleging that “a withdrawal
without the complete deployment of the Ethiopian troops would disrupt
Abyei’s administration" and argued that the only thing disrupting the
administration and the residents of Abyei area is the presence of SAF
forces.
Biong explained that Khartoum’s refusal to present a nomination for
the speaker of the Abyei Area Council that is a resident of the area
and member of the Ngok Dinka community is the reason for the delay in
the formation of Abyei Administration.
He said that although it was not explicitly mentioned in the
agreement, that there was a “gentleman’s agreement” made between the
North Sudan Sudan president Omar al-Bashir and the Ethiopian prime
minister Meles Zenawi, that the position of the speaker of Abyei Area
legislative council should remain the SPLM’s and a consensus was
reached to give it a nominee of the National Congress Party from area,
preferably a member of Dinka community.
Biong accused the Khartoum government of trying to deceive the people
to justify the illegal presence of its forces in Abyei area and that
they believe that the presence of its forces in Abyei will prevent
residents of Abyei from returning to their homes.
The UN estimates that 100,000 people were displaced by the conflict in
Abyei. Biong said that the SAF forces in Abyei “have no security
function” since the deployment of UNISFA.
He asked the AU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
and the UN Security Council to call upon Bashir to immediately
withdraw his forces from Abyei and to allow humanitarian access to the
area.
(ST)
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