Ethiopian Review

KHARTOUM — The Sudanese partners in the Government of National Unity (GoNU) met this week in Khartoum to discuss a number of outstanding issues concerning the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

Among the issues discussed are preparations for next week’s ruling on the North-South border region of Abyei by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

Malik Agar, the governor of the Blue Nile State, and a leading figure at the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) told Reuters they agreed with the National Congress Party (NCP) on measures to take to avoid eruption of violence in Abyei.

“Once the decision is made in The Hague, one side is going to feel disappointed. We need to avoid any violence,” Agar said.

“The measures are really an elaboration of what we have already agreed. There was no big progress in the meetings,” he added.

He said the parties had agreed to an increase in the number of UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) peacekeepers in Abyei and would send their own high- ranking delegations to the town on the day to try and ease tensions.

The US special envoy Scott Gration, who is currently in Sudan, is scheduled to fly to Abyei the day of the decision by the PCA.

The SPLM said that it intends to send a high level delegation to be present in Abyei the day of the decision. The ex-Southern rebel group said that it is also inviting representatives of the witnesses of the CPA to be present.

Both the NCP and the SPLM said they will honor and abide by the ruling regardless of the outcome.

Some observers have raised fears that the local tribes may reject the decision raising the possibility of violence eruption.

The arbitration tribunal has to determine whether or not the Abyei Boundaries Commission (ABC) experts exceeded their mandate “to define and demarcate the area of the Nine Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms transferred from Bahr el Ghazal to Kordofan in 1905, as per the Abyei Protocol, the Appendix, ABC Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure”.

If the PCA determines that the ABC exceeded its mandate then it shall proceed to define the borders of the region.

- Sudan Tribune