Armed looters burn Sudan's disputed Abyei: UN

Armed looters set fire to parts of Sudan's disputed Abyei border town on Monday, the United Nations said, days after north Sudanese troops seized it, pushing the north and south closer to conflict. North Sudan's army vowed to hold all the territory it took, defying demands from the UN Security Council and drawing sharp criticism from the United States and other world powers.
South Sudan accused Khartoum of trying to provoke war and prevent the oil-rich south from becoming an independent country after it voted to break away from the north in a January referendum agreed under a 2005 peace deal. Analysts fear north-south fighting over Abyei could re-ignite a full blown conflict in Sudan, a move that could have a devastating impact on the surrounding region.
Both Sudan's mostly Muslim north and the south, where most follow Christian and traditional beliefs, claim the fertile, oil-producing Abyei border region. Ownership was not settled in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of north-south civil war. Abyei remains the biggest point of contention in the build-up to the secession of the south, due to take place on July 9. The northern army sent tanks into Abyei on Saturday, the United Nations said, after weeks of growing tension and accusations of skirmishes by both sides.
Thousands of people fled, leaving Abyei town empty, while food supplies have also been disrupted, the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said. A UN official said fighting seemed to be over in Abyei town, but staff at a peacekeeping base could hear occasional gunshots. The UN Mission (UNMIS) "strongly condemns the burning and looting currently being perpetrated by armed elements in Abyei town," said UN spokesman Kouider Zerrouk. UN Security Council envoys visiting Sudan, who earlier demanded the north withdraw, met the southern government in the southern capital Juba on Monday.
The United States said it would find it hard to drop Sudan from the US state sponsors of terrorism list if North Sudan continues to occupy Abyei, US special envoy to Sudan Princeton Lyman said on Monday. Sudan, who used to host the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has been on the list since 1993. Even China, a major trading partner of the north, expressed concern after the escalation in Abyei.