Sudan’s Bashir warns about disputed Abyei region
LONDON. July 11. KAZINFORM Sudan's President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir said on Monday that the disputed Abyei border region could be a source of conflict with newly independent South Sudan if agreements are not respected; Kazinform refers to Arab News.
Bashir told the BBC's Hardtalk program he wanted UN peacekeepers to leave but welcomed a US-drafted resolution, unanimously approved by the UN Security Council last month, to deploy 4,200 Ethiopian troops to Abyei for six months.
"The Ethiopians have a mandate to keep peace in the zone, so we welcome the Ethiopian troops," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
"Both of us welcome them, because they are capable of doing their job, unlike the current troops who have failed to keep peace in this zone."
Khartoum's forces seized Abyei with tanks and troops on May 21, causing tens of thousands of people to flee and drawing an international outcry.
South Sudan seceded from the north on Saturday but the countries have yet to agree on who owns Abyei, stirring fears of renewed conflict; Kazinform cites Arab News.
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