Sudan reaffirms Abyei claim as new chief takes office

Sudan’s newly appointed head of the joint oversight committee for the disputed Abyei region has reaffirmed Khartoum’s claim to the territory while calling for regional cooperation to resolve the dispute with neighbouring South Sudan peacefully.

Retired Major-General Al-Khair Abdullah Idris Abu Muridat made the remarks on Saturday after taking over from his predecessor, Hamid Mannan, at a handover ceremony in Khartoum overseen by Abdullah Yahya, a member of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, the state news agency SUNA reported.

Abu Muridat was appointed on September 23 by Sovereignty Council Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, replacing Mannan.

He pledged to pursue a peaceful settlement that would spare Abyei’s communities further hardship and urged the region and neighbouring countries to cooperate in resolving the dispute in line with agreements signed by Sudan and South Sudan in 2011.

He also pledged to serve all communities in the Abyei region without discrimination and promote stability. He called on the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to protect local communities and fulfil its mandate.

Abu Muridat described relations between Sudan and South Sudan as strong but reiterated Khartoum’s position that Abyei belongs to Sudan.

The dispute also involves the interests of the Misseriya, predominantly Arab pastoralists who traditionally move through Abyei with their cattle, and the Ngok Dinka, the region’s principal resident community, which is largely aligned with South Sudan.

Disagreements over whether the Misseriya tribe should be eligible to vote in a referendum on Abyei’s future have been a major obstacle to resolving the dispute.

Before his appointment, Abu Muridat headed the intelligence department of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after being seconded to the force from the Sudanese army.

Abyei, an oil-producing region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, has remained a source of tension since South Sudan gained independence in 2011.

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement provided for a referendum in which Abyei’s residents would decide whether the region should remain part of Sudan or join what became South Sudan. The vote has never taken place because the parties failed to agree on voter eligibility and other outstanding issues.

Agreements signed in 2011 established interim administrative and security arrangements for Abyei, but its final status remains unresolved.

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