South Sudan: Police Withdraw From Disputed Region - New York Times

South Sudan has withdrawn its police forces from the disputed Abyei region on its border with Sudan, the United Nations said Friday, after the Security Council threatened the two countries with sanctions in an effort to stop an escalating conflict. Sudan and South Sudan both claim Abyei, a border region containing fertile grazing land, which Sudan took in May last year — setting off the exodus of tens of thousands of civilians — after a southern attack on an army convoy. Recent border clashes between Sudan and South Sudan, which culminated with South Sudan seizing a disputed oil field, prompted the Security Council to pass a resolution last week threatening sanctions if the two sides did not follow an African Union road map stipulating a cease-fire and a return to talks. About 700 South Sudanese police officers left Abyei with logistical support from the United Nations mission, a United Nations official said Friday. The United Nations said in March that Sudan had 400 to 500 soldiers in Abyei and that South Sudan had about 300 soldiers based less than two miles south of its border with Abyei.