UN Security Council demands Sudan to withdraw troops from Abyei‎

[News_Editor]

UN Security Council demands Sudan to withdraw troops from Abyei‎

2011-06-04 08:21:19 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) --The United Nations Security Council on Friday demanded that Sudan withdraw troops from the disputed region of Abyei.

The Council strongly condemned in a presidential statement "the Government of Sudan's taking and continued maintenance of military control over the Abyei area and the resulting displacement of tens of thousands of residents of Abyei."

Violence erupted after the referendum on Abyei's status never took place amid disagreement on voter eligibility. In July, Southern Sudan will secede from the rest of the country, as a result of a separate referendum held in January.

However, the north and south have been recently disputing over border demarcation and the status of the conflicted Abyei area.

"The Council calls on the Sudanese Armed Forces to ensure an immediate halt to all looting, burning, and illegal resettlement," the statement said. "The Council stresses that all those responsible for violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, as well as those who ordered those acts, will be held accountable."

Violence and looting broke out in Abyei town after the northern troops took control of the area last month, displacing an estimated 45,000 people. The statement, read out by Nelson Messone, the Permanent Representative of Gabon, added that Sudan's military presence in the area constitutes "a serious violation" of previous agreements, including the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the long-running north-south civil war in Sudan.

The presidential statement echoed remarks made by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who last month called on both parties to halt their military operations and withdraw immediately from Abyei town.

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