Sudan Calls for Help in Abyei Row

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

Maxwell Masava

25 May 2011

NEWLY posted Sudan ambassador to Kenya, Kamal Ismail Mohamed, has called for support in resolving the Abyei region dispute. Addressing the press in Nairobi yesterday, the Sudanese envoy said the misunderstanding surrounding Abyei region should be resolved through peaceful means instead of taking back the country to war. “The international community and especially Kenya is expected to continue actively involving in the last phases of the CPA implementation so that we can witness a peaceful establishment of a nascent neighbouring country on 9th of July 2011,” said Kamal.

“There is no way of going back to war,” Kamal said at Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi while accusing Southern Sudan of becoming an impediment to the CPA implementation process. He said his government led by President Omar El-Bashir was “committed to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in both letter and spirit.”

Sudan’s army seized Abyei on May 21 after accusing Southern Sudan’s army of attacking its forces while they were withdrawing from the region with a UN convoy. The capture sparked concern that violence may escalate between northern and Southern Sudan, which fought a two-decade civil war that ended with the US-brokered peace accord, known as the CPA, in 2005.

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