US Seeks to Ease Tensions Between North, South in Sudan

03 June 2011

A United Nations Mission photo from May 28 of destruction in the Abyei area of central Sudan.

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

South Sudan is preparing to declare its independence on July ninth. But recent events have raised concerns about the peace process that ended years of civil war with Sudan’s north.

Last month northern forces seized most of Abyei, an area rich in oil fields in the central part of Sudan. The south voted for separation in January. People in Abyei were supposed to decide that same day whether to join the north or the south. But that never happened because of a disagreement over who could vote.

The United Nations says tens of thousands of people fled after northern troops and allied militia occupied the area on May twenty-first. They forced out troops from south Sudan. Based on early reports, Abyei's former chief administrator said about one hundred civilians were killed. There was no independent confirmation of that number.

The north has rejected calls from the United States, the United Nations and south Sudan to remove its troops from Abyei. The area was a battleground during the long civil war. That war ended with the two thousand five Comprehensive Peace Accord, or CPA, which led to the vote in the south.

On Wednesday, the government in Khartoum offered proposals for settling the dispute. The north called for an African force to replace international peacekeeping troops in Sudan. It also suggested a new joint administration for Abyei. Southern officials reportedly rejected the proposals.