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Abyei | town, territorial dispute

Sudan / Samal Bahhr-al-Gazal / Gogrial /
 town, territorial dispute
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Abyei is where the fertile floodplain of South Sudan meets the petering desert of the north, and is a case in point for all that has gone wrong with Africa's largest nation since its inception. Traditionally this land was shared in peace, permanently inhabited by the Ngok Dinka — ethnically southerners — and seasonally home to the Arab Misseriya nomads, who migrate to the area during the dry months. But years of war have left this symbolic bridge burned beyond repair, and the Ngok Dinka want to make the separation official.
South Sudan plans to secede in a referendum in 2011, exercising a right granted under a 2005 peace deal to form its own country. Abyei was promised its own referendum to decide which side to join. But the Arab Misseriya leaders have vowed to block any referendum unless they too are allowed to vote — they worry that the split will result in their losing grazing land despite assurances from the south that traditional rights will be respected. To make their point, Misseriya militias are menacingly amassing north of Abyei town.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abyei_(town)
Read more: www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2031266,00.html#...
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Coordinates:   9°35'42"N   28°27'19"E

Comments

  • Even after the 2005 cease-fire, in May 2008, northern forces stormed the town and razed the area to the ground, killing at least 89 and displacing 90,000. The attack had been sparked by a minor clash with the south's army after both sides failed to withdraw from the area as agreed under the pact.
This article was last modified 10 years ago