A joint north-south Sudanese force will deploy in the oil-rich flashpoint of Abyei on Monday in a bid to prevent a repeat of violence last month that forced thousands to flee, the force's commander said.
The Joint Integrated Unit of troops from the Sudanese army and the southern former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army will begin deploying in accordance with a road map hammered out by the two sides a week ago.
Force commander Colonel Valentino Tocmac of the SPLA told AFP on Sunday that "we will start deploying from tomorrow onward."
He said that a battalion of between 700-750 "should all be deployed by June 18," stressing that the new force was made up entirely of troops who had not previously been stationed in the flashpoint. "These are fresh soldiers, there will be no problem," between the former foes," he said. "I'm sure they will work together."
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir signed the agreement aimed at bringing peace to the disputed central region with former rebel leader and First Vice President Salva Kiir on June 8. Besides allowing for the return of tens of thousands displaced by fighting in Abyei last month, the agreement includes setting up an interim administration and seeking international arbitration to resolve the dispute.
Both the UN and the African Union have hailed the deal, which will also allow the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) unrestricted access to the area. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said last week that the UN was "ready to assist their return to Abyei, once security arrangements are put in place."
However, the UN was unable to confirm a statement by Luka Biong, southern minister for presidential affairs, that UNMIS would double its troop numbers in the area. "They are now going to double the forces," Biong said on Saturday.
Fighting in Abyei had threatened a return to Sudan's two-decade civil war-the longest in Africa-which only ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.
Under the 2005 deal, the south was offered a six-year transition period of regional autonomy and participation in a unity government until a 2011 referendum on self-determination. Half-way through the transition period, Abyei is still not governed by a functioning joint administration as stipulated in a special protocol.
The impasse has been one issue delaying implementation of the entire peace deal. In 2011, Abyei will hold a separate referendum on whether to retain its special administrative status in the north or join the south. North and south had rejected the findings of an Abyei border commission set up under the CPA, and will now turn to as yet unspecified arbitrators.
The Abyei fighting led the number two in Kiir's Sudan People's Liberation Movement to say that Sudan was on the brink of civil war and compare the northern coalition partner to Nazis. The fighting was described as the worst crisis endangering the entire peace process that ended the civil war between north and south Sudan in which more than 1.5 million people were killed.
The ethnic clash in Abyei is between the Ngok Dinka generally affiliated to the south who dominated the town and outlying villages, and nomadic Arab tribesmen who migrate seasonally to graze their animals.
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