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Abyei Arbitral Tribunal decision imminent
Wed, July 1 2009
By BLO/MRC [Brussels]

As the decision by the five-member Abyei Arbitral Tribunal on the validity of the Abyei Boundary Commission’s report looms on the horizon, members of the National Congress Party-dominated Government of National Unity and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement have agreed on the need for the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) to be present in Abyei during the announcement of the award.

It has been agreed that senior members of the National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) – in addition to President Barack Obama’s Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, and some representatives of the international community – will be in Abyei when the Tribunal announces its decision. This step has been taken to help reduce fears in the region and urge all of Abyei’s residents to accept and understand the Tribunal’s decision. This is deemed important for the stability of Abyei and, subsequently for the full implementation of the Abyei Protocol, which is part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005.

The Government of South Sudan’s minister for Presidential Affairs, Dr. Luka Biong, highlighted that the SPLM already took practical measures to establish presence in Abyei in order to implement what had been agreed upon at the Washington-sponsored international conference on the implementation of the CPA. Dr. Biong further explained that both the SPLM and its peace partner, the NCP, had reiterated in Washington that the Tribunal’s decision on the matter would be final and binding, and that the parties would embark on implementing the decision as soon as it was made public.

Simultaneously, President Bashir’s advisor and head of the NCP delegation to the conference, Dr. Salah el-Din said, in a press conference held in Khartoum, that the NCP and the SPLM would abide by the Tribunal’s decision, and adopt a course of action that would avert any violence in the Abyei Area.

Abyei was the scene of some fierce fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in May 2008. The fighting killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands of civilians from Abyei, many of whom are still unable to return to their places.

The Abyei Arbitral Tribunal is expected to announce its decision sometime in July, this year.

 

 

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