Dispute over Sudan's Abyei region aired in The Hague
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- Created on Saturday, 18 April 2009 11:02
- Written by Pachodo.org News Room
THE HAGUE, Apr 18, 2009 (AFP) - The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague started hearing a dispute Saturday between north and south Sudan over the contested oil-rich Abyei region at the heart of a fragile peace pact.
"Everybody in Sudan has a vested interest in the outcome of this arbitration," Riek Machar Teny, deputy chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) told the court on the first of six days of hearings.
The southern SPLM and the government in the north asked the court last year for "final and binding arbitration" on the issue.
This followed a pact concluded last June to end a dispute over Abyei and allow for the return of tens of thousands who had fled fighting there the month before.
The fighting had threatened a return to Sudan's two-decade civil war, the longest in Africa, that claimed 1.5 million lives before ending with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.
The deal offered the south a six-year transitional period of regional autonomy and participation in a unity government until a 2011 referendum on self-determination.
Abyei will hold also a referendum the same year on whether to retain its current special administrative status in the north, or join the south.
Unable to agree on the borders of the Abyei area as defined in the peace agreement, the government and SPLM set up a joint boundaries commission.
While the government rejected the 2005 outcome, the SPLM said the commission was correct in concluding that the Ngok Dinka ethnic group, affiliated to the south, had occupied the Abyei area since well before the turn of the 20th century.
"The (government's) actions are an opportunistic effort to relitigate issues that have already been decided," the SPLM states in court filings.
But Dirdeiry Mohamed Ahmed, for the government, argued "there is not a shred of evidence to support the line of latitude" claimed by the SPLM.
The court should make a finding in three months.
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20-04-2009 06:12:02 |Unregistered| Lal
Look Mr. William! If we say you are blabbing, you may get disappointed, and if we say Sudan must be divided though southerners vote for unity or not, you may think of becoming another Tang Giny in Sudan... the question is: Did you know way the years of wars in Sudan are 21 plus the years of the wars of Anya - nya one and two... Don't encourage our people to go back to war! Betrayed is what let us to fight the war, and that war was mostly about delivering our people from the hand of Khartoum's into freedom. Now, we found that freedom and it will never be given to extremists no more. We believe that there are many people who are more people that Omar el Bashir & his political mates. We are aiming for perminant peace, by keeping southern sudan seperated from northern sudan for good! We believe that LIBERTY is born and it shall grow and thrive among our people of Southern Sudan at Home and abroad because we do believe in freedom and genuine democracy. Our flag is already in the air and there is nothing that will bring it down. We are sorry, but we can tell you that there is nothing that can blow down the work of God, the creator! If SPLA/M and SSIM say that Abye is part of Southern Sudan, we believe all southern Sudaneses have agreed with that facts. PERIOD!
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20-04-2009 06:18:07 |Unregistered| Lal
Sorry for the language error! In line number 6, we mean: "There are many people who are more power than Omer el Bashir ....."
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20-04-2009 22:50:37 |Unregistered| William Okuch
Lal, what are you trying to articulate here? I think you lost what what you intend to say becuase your criticism against my correction is negative.
Let put it short for you to help you to comprehend.
SSIM/SSLM fought for the Southern independence, but Abel Alier had said no for our independence and came up with regional autnomy that reained Sudan unity.
Because the idea was from one man called puppet Abel Aleir, we have again Anya-Anya Two.
Dr. Garang was again sent by puppet Aleir to crash Anya-Anya Two and replace it with SPLM/A. I hope and pray you understand the manifesto of what is so called SPLM/A. The inconceivable change here is seeing SPLM/A calling for breaking back the South from North. If SPLM/A rationalized the right of South to be independent state, then why had Dr. John Garang killed the leaders of SSLM/SSIM and changed the manifesto with vision of NEW SUDAN? What about the people from three marginalized areas and northern opposition Dr. John Garang had used against the Southerners?
Your problem Lal will be your refusal to the reality. We have to keep what we build not to destroy it. Listen to the words from former president Nelson Mandela and Zuma. Their words about keeping the vision of ANC.
Good luck.
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Deng Majowk had sold the Abey and Dinka people to the North in 1905 for his family benefits.Now SPLM has to bring Abey back with Southern blood or by paying millions of dollar for lawyers while our widows, orpahns and veterans are in destitution. After war, the whole Southern budget goes into pockets of Dinka and some dollar now to liberate Abey legally.
Have we forget that Dr. John Garang had rebelled like Deng Majowk against the WILL of the Southerners by killing thousands of Southerners, by exterminating many leaders of Any-Anya two and replaced the call for southern Sudan independent movement with the Sudan people liberation movement that calls for united Sudan (NEW SUDAN).
Is it not again disloyality of Deng Majowk and Dr. John Garang vision of united Sudan by re-annexing Abey to South?
In doing this, is SPLM becoming rationale entity and is it not a confession to SSIM vision that called for separation?
If SPLM is now fighting to integrate the sold pices of Southern lands into its integral, then what about the comardes from Nubian mountain, Blue Nile and Darfur who support SPLM because of the New Sudan? Is it though not a treason to our comardes from marginal areas who shedded their blood for NEW SUDAN?
Since SPLM come back to the idea of separation, will its leaders publicly apology for millions of the Southerns that die for the wrong vision (NEW SUDAN)?
I will conclude by giving the example from the Bible. Jews did not mix up with gentiles before Lord Jesus nativity. But Jesus came to break down the wall that divide Jews and Gentiles that He is the Lord of all and all are children of one God. It resemble the notion of NEW SUDAN that the whole Sudan land must not be divided.
Any person who believe in Jesus become His disciple and must be abide by new law. Any person who support or is member of SPLM/A is abide by SPLM law.
Peter one of the first disciple as Jew tried somtime to predict himself by not socializing with gentiles when there are Jews around.
Saint Paul who was called Saul gave himslef to the work of God totally. One time he had criticized Peter position by saying this.
"No one can build the house and destroyed it." That means they believe to follow Jesus by implemnting His instruction not by resfusing and accepting sometime.
How can SPLM fought for years to achive the unity of Sudan and it is now breaking Sudan? That is clear coontridiction or confusiobn to its call and confession to the notion of SSIM.
I have mentioned previously that our comardes which soon or later come to know the reality of Dinka call for SPLM, what they say from their mouths and what they do on the ground conflict each other.