The South And North Have Agreed To Deploy Ethiopian Troops In Abyei

22 June 2011—(Juba) —The South, North and the Ethiopian government have agreed to dispatch a team of about three thousand highly equipped Ethiopian peacekeeping troops to Abyei area this month.

The decision to deploy Ethiopian forces into Abyei was reached on Tuesday following the agreement between North and South governments to demilitarize the region and allow civilians to return to their homes.

SPLA spokesperson, Colonel Phillip Aguer Panyang told SRS in Juba on Wednesday that the army supports the deployment of a neutral body in Abyei to act as a buffer zone between the North and the South.

[Philip Aguer]: “The Ethiopians suggested representing the U-N peacekeeping in Abyei, so that is the suggestion but the details of the implementation and the mechanisms of the implementation are not yet clearer. The idea of principle is to be accepted by the government of southern Sudan, we are just implementers; the army doesn’t object or accept -they implement what the government decides. So we are just ready to implement whatever will come out from the government representatives.”

Colonel Aguer further accused UNMIS of failing twice to protect civilians in Abyei during attacks by Sudan Armed Forces.

He said he is hopeful the new peacekeeping forces will be mandated to protect civilians at all cost in Abyei region.

[Philip Aguer]: “As you have seen UNMIS, twice they have failed to protect the people of Abyei, and after this the UN is trying to strengthen their mandates. So the coming of a UN mission team in form of Ethiopians or other forces will have a stronger mandate, so they will be capable of protecting the civil population of Abyei. You have seen how the regime in Khartoum is unpredictable, you can hear them talk positively today and tomorrow they will talk other things.”

The new agreement on temporary arrangements for administration and security in Abyei signed by the two parties is said to open up room for more dialogue as South Sudan awaits its declaration of independence in less than three weeks’ time.