Clashes on Sudan north-south border raise fear of civil war

South Sudan has warned the north's ‘illegal occupation’ of Abyei risks tipping the country back to full-scale civil war. The northern Sudanese Army took control of the city Abyei over the weekend after three days of clashes with southern forces. South Sudan is due to become independent in July, but Abyei is still claimed by both sides. 

REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Khartoum said it had moved in because the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army was trying to enforce its presence in the town, in violation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA. This agreement, which ended 22 years of devastating civil war between the north and south, requires both sides to keep their troops out until a vote to determine its future.

Western governments have condemned the seizure by northern troops and expressed serious concern about the implications for peace between the north and south in the run-up to international recognition of southern independence in two month’s time.

France demanded that the Khartoum government withdraw its forces from Abyei immediately.

A White House statement said failure to do this “could set back the process of normalising relations between Sudan and the United States and inhibit the international community's ability to move forward on issues critical to Sudan's future."

Washington had promised to improve long-troubled relations with Khartoum in return for its acceptance of a peaceful and negotiated split between north and south.

And Britain condemned Sudanese army attacks in Abyei and urged all sides to cease hostilities.

A UN Security Council delegation met Sunday with representatives of the Sudanese government in Khartoum but neither Foreign Minister Ali Karti, who was expected to lead discussions, nor Vice President Ali Osman Taha were present.

Fighting in Abyei has pitted the former civil war enemies against each other since January when the district was due to vote on its future alongside a referendum on independence for the south which delivered a landslide for secession.

But the plebiscite was postponed indefinitely as the north and south disagreed on who should be eligible to vote in an area where conflicted loyalties and land disputes keep tensions high.