Sudan, Southern Rebel Agrees On Arbitration For
Abyei Region
Sudan
and former Southern rebels have agreed to accept as
binding an arbitration ruling due in July on a
boundary dispute over the contested oil-rich Abyei
region.
The Sudanese government and the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement reached the deal on Abyei before
international talks opened in Washington to bolster
a fragile Comprehensive Peace Agreement between
north and south.
US Special Envoy for Sudan, Scott Gration told
reporters in a conference that both parties agreed
to accept the Abyei arbitration as final and
binding, pledging to ensure the people on the ground
also accept it.
Gration called for strong international support to
help implement the agreement.
The deal offered the south a six-year transitional
period of regional autonomy and participation in a
unity government until the 2011 referendum on
self-determination. Abyei will also hold a
referendum the same year on whether to retain its
current special administrative status in the north,
or join the south.
AFP/ Qasim/Austeen