Chad admitted to an air raid on rebel positions at Um Dukhn in Darfur, but denied attacking Sudan’s armed forces or populace in the raid. (Reuters, July 21) Meanwhile, the SPLA denied breaking terms of the Sudan peace deal after UN monitors accused its troops of moving into the contested region of Abyei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the The Hague is to give a final ruling on the boundaries of Abyei this week. (BBC News, July 19)
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UN issues ruling on Abyei
The Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 22 issued a compromise ruling finding that the size of Abyei is somewhere between the tiny strip of land Khartoum said it covered and the much larger expanse of territory Southern Sudan claimed it included. In a 2011 referendum, residents of the region are likely to vote to join Southern Sudan. Both Khartoum and the SPLM said they accepted the ruling.
The SPLM’s Deng Alor, who is Foreign Minister in Sudan’s Government of National Unity, said the ruling deprived the Ngok Dinka—Abyei’s historical residents—of some of their land, but that they would abide by the decision. “All in all the decision of the court is acceptable and we will implement it,” he said.
The top UN official in Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, said the ruling would benefit both the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya, Arab pastoralists. “I think it’s going to work out just fine,” he said. “The rights of both communities have been guaranteed as a matter of international law now.” (IRIN, July 22)