As military tensions mount in Sudan over the South's bid for independence, the fate of one tiny state is now key to determining whether the region descends into war.
Sudan's Fate In Hands Of Small State Of Abyei
2:03am UK, Thursday December 09, 2010
As military tensions mount in Sudan over the South's bid for independence, the fate of one tiny state is now key to determining whether the region descends into war.
Abyei, with a population of just 80,000, is officially part of northern Sudan, but the people are demanding the right to join the south in separating from Khartoum.
In the dusty streets of the main town - little more than a cluster of stalls and rows of shacks - the residents of Abyei are bracing themselves for the consequences of their bid for freedom.
Tribal leaders here have warned them that it could mean another war.
"We will not attack them, but the North will attack us," Kuol Deng, the local chief said.
"And then there will be war because we can't just stand by and let them burn Abyei again."
Police guard during the last day of voter registration in Khartoum
Long after the civil war ended in the rest of Sudan, the fighting in Abyei continued.
The conflict has been fuelled by the presence of oil in the area, along with the fertile grazing land.
Scores died in 2008 after a spat between nomadic tribesmen turned into a clash between the forces of the North and South.
In October this year, a Sudanese soldier opened fire in the centre of Abyei, wounding a trader - an incident viewed as an act of provocation by Khartoum.
The area is a flashpoint for conflict because it is shared by the Dinka tribe, who are loyal to the South, and the northern supporting Misseriya, who graze their cattle in Abyei during the dry season.
Tribal rivalries frequently lead to violence, and with the forces of the north and the South massed around the area even a small incident could trigger a war that could spread not just through the south of Sudan, but into neighbouring Darfur.
UN peacekeepers in the area are keeping watch from their barbed wire compound in the centre of Abyei as tensions rise.
Buses bump along the dirt tracks in convoy, stacked with mattresses and plastic chairs - the few belongings they possess after a life in exile in the North.
Kuol Deng, local chiefWe will not attack them, but the north will attack us. And then there will be war because we can't just stand by and let them burn Abyei again.
They have returned because they want to vote in the referendum, and also because they fear reprisals if they stay in the North.
"I heard that they are going to kill us there," Adar Riak, who is eight months pregnant with her fourth child told me.
Her family is now living under a tree, as they have nowhere else to go.
The United Nations World Food Programme already feeds half the population of Abyei and the return of the refugees is adding to numbers needing sacks of grain to stay alive.
There may yet be a new exodus if the North opts to fight to keep this place.
No comments:
Post a Comment