Sudan

Ceasefire signed after a month of fighting in Abyei

Article published on the 2008-06-09 Latest update 2008-06-09 09:56 TU

Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir (R) meets First vice president Salva Kiir.
(Photo: Reuters)

Sudan’s two warring factions signed a ceasefire Sunday, bringing a month of fighting over the oil-rich Abyei region to an end. President Omar el Bashir’s National Congress Party signed the deal with representatives of the government of southern Sudan Sunday after a month of fighting forced tens of thousands of people to flee.

“The agreement touches on the humanitarian situation, and [provides] quick humanitarian measures for the return of the Abyeis”, Yasir Armin, representative of the southern government told RFI.

 

Northern and southern soldiers and police will be deployed in the region, each with freedom of movement to assure security in the region, Mohamed Al Dahouri, spokesman for the Sudanese National Congress Party, told RFI from Khartoum.

 

Among the other immediate measures is the establishment of an interim administration and interim boundaries on the basis of the Abyei protocol, said Armin, who is the deputy secretary general of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement.

An arbitration process to determine permanent boundaries was also written into the deal, both representatives confirmed.

Many observers said that the fighting that broke out last month risked plunging Sudan back into the civil war, which only came to an end with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.

The contested region of Abyei was written into the 2005 peace deal, but obligations concerning the region were not respected.

Under the 2005 agreement, the south was offered six years of regional autonomy and participation in a national unity government until a referendum on independence could be held in 2011.