Bashir Appoints Southerner to Run Oil Region

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Friday named a South Sudanese military officer as chief administrator of the contested region of Abyei, honouring an agreement on joint administration after fighting between Northern and Southern forces deployed in the oil-rich region threatened a return to civil war three months ago. Bashir issued a presidential decree appointing Arop Moyak, a senior officer in the semi-autonomous South’s Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), as chief administrator, with Rahama Abdel Rahman al-Nour, a northerner, as his deputy. [PE]