Sudan: Bashir Warns South over Disputed Oil-rich Abyei

By Staff Writers

KHARTOUM---Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has threatened not to recognise the new state of South Sudan  on its independence in July if it insists on claiming the disputed Abyei region.

In a live televised speech on state television, al-Bashir told thousands of supporters at a local election rally in South Kordofan, in which the flashpoint border area currently lies,“If they put Abyei in the constitution of the new state of South Sudan, we will not recognise the new state.

Oil-producing Abyei  is the most intractable of a raft of issues north and south Sudan are struggling to negotiate ahead of partition, after southerners voted almost unanimously to split with their former civil war enemies in January’s referendum. It should also have had a vote in January on whether to join north or south, but it was delayed by a dispute over who should vote.

Last week, a draft interim constitution for the south was presented to southern president Salva Kiir at a ceremony in Juba, explicitly stating that Abyei fell within the territory of south Sudan, as confirmed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2009.

At a rally in Muglad, the historical capital of the Misseriya Arab nomads Wednesday, Bashir told a large crowd of supporters that Abyei belonged to the north.

“For 22 years, the rebels were not able to enter the region, because it was guarded by you,” he said.

“I will repeat it 100 times: Abyei is a part of the north and it will remain a part of the north,” he added.

There have been several deadly clashes in Abyei since January, when the referendum was supposed to have been held under the terms of the 2005 peace accord that ended the civil war.

For months, President Bashir has insisted he would be the first to recognise the new country of South Sudan when it secedes on July 9.

But the BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says neither the north nor the south has shown any sign of backing down over Abyei