Agenzia Fides

Juba (Agenzia Fides) - Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, of the Episcopal Church of the Sudan (ECS), was shocked to see the level of destruction carried out by the Sudanese army in the town of Abyei, disputed between Sudan and South Sudan. This was reported by the Archbishop himself after returning from a visit to Abyei, in an interview with Catholic Bakhita Radio. According to Bishop Deng the military in Khartoum, that occupy the city, destroyed government offices, churches, schools and homes. The mosque is the only building left standing in Abyei, said the religious leader.
Mgr. Deng questioned the rationality of the Sudanese army in destroying churches and schools, leaving the mosque standing, and whether the military in Khartoum intend to drag the two countries into religious conflict. The fate of Abyei, an oil-rich area on the boundary between the two States, remains one of the issues left unresolved by the Agreement signed by Sudan and South Sudan on 27 September in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), which regulates in particular the division of the proceeds of oil, extracted in Southern Sudan and exported through the Sudanese structures. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 17/10/2012)