AFRICA/SUDAN - Agreement reached on Abyei, area disputed by north and south Sudan: oil deposits awarded to Khartoum

Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – The government of Khartoum and that of the autonomous region of south Sudan have declared that they accept the verdict of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, given today, July 22, on the demarcation of Abyei area.
Abyei is a region of South Khordofan, very close to the border with southern Darfur, which was one of the points yet unresolved in the agreement between the government of Khartoum and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) that in 2005 signed a deal to end the twenty-year war in South Sudan. In light of this agreement, South Sudan established an autonomous administration in Khartoum and in 2011 is scheduled to hold a referendum to decide whether the territory will continue forming a part of Sudan (with a greater autonomy) or if it will become independent. No accord was reached regarding several of the border zones and it was unsure whether they belonged to north or south Sudan. Abyei is one of these areas. Formally speaking, it belongs to the north, but its population is formed by 280,000 people of the southern tribes, who fought against the Khartoum regime in the war.
The real object at stake, however, are the rich oil deposits in the area, which if assigned to the south could become a decisive element in favor of their independence.
The two sides left the decision in the hands of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, to settle the dispute in a peaceful manner.
The application of the Court's sentence reestablishes the borders of the region in such a way that the Heglig oil fields and the Nile oil duct are in the area assigned to the government of Khartoum.
The Hague's decision will allow the full application of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005, which says that in 2011, in addition to the referendum for south Sudan, there will be a separate referendum on Abyei. The inhabitants of the area will vote on whether to remain a region with special statutes belonging to north or to form a part of south Sudan.
In May 2008, violent combat broke out between forces of south Sudan and Khartoum over control of the area, leading to the death of almost 500 people and the flight of tens of thousands of civilians, while the city of Abyei suffered heavy destruction. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 22/7/2009)