Sudan gives UN access to disputed oil area
Sudan has granted UN peacekeepers access to the contested oil-rich area of Abyei, where north and south are locked in a war of words over escalating troop numbers in violation of a fragile peace deal.
Tensions have risen in Abyei since a prominent south Sudan politician, Edward Lino, arrived late last month on a mission that the north condemned as a unilateral appointment of a local administrator without presidential approval.
"Because of the tensions that have arisen... (both sides) lifted their restrictions for a period of 14 days," UN force commander Lieutenant General Jasbir Singh Lidder told a news conference in Khartoum on Monday.
Government forces previously prevented access north of Abyei town and the Sudan People's Liberation Army impeded access from the south, denying the UN a "coherent picture," the commander added.
Former warring enemies, the Sudanese military and SPLA have been locked in a political standoff, accusing each other of shipping extra troops into the area in violation of the agreement that ended their civil war in 2005.
"We hope during these 14 days we can be able to verify these additional soldiers, which the SPLA claims (have deployed) and also the SPLA soldiers coming into Abyei town accompanying Mr Edward Lino," Lidder said.
While Abyei posed a big challenge to implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Lidder said the problem should not be solved through the military.
"(Abyei) is a big political issue which has to be resolved politically. As I told you, none of these political claims should manifest in any military muscle flexing on the ground," he said.
"It requires a lot of perseverence, it requires a lot of patience, a lot of determination, a lot of flexibility," said Lidder.
The south has said it is losing patience with what it sees as the failure of President Omar al-Beshir's National Congress Party to implement a protocol for governing the oil-rich zone during a transition period.
In 2011, Abyei will hold two referendums: one on whether to retain its special administrative status in the north or be incorporated into the south; and the second on whether the south should break away as an independent state.
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