Lino Main Cause for Escalation in Abyei, Bakhet

By : Mona Al Bashir

May 25, 2008 (SV)

Abyei Commissioner Mohammed Al-Durik Bakhet held Edward Lino and SPLA responsible for last week incidents in Abyei, stressing the presence of secret motives for the clashes which have as yet not been identified.

"The incidents were caused by Lino's rashness and his inability to manage the region," he said, adding that by forming a government and ministers and appointing a 1000-strong police troops out of Denka Ngok militias Lino has further deepened the crisis. The militias, he said, lacked both discipline and training, added to the fact that formation of a police force in the presence of the joint forces is considered a breach of the peace agreement. He indicated that Lino has hired Nuer forces to carry out the attack on Abyei. He called on members of Dinka Ngok to observe prudence and the requirements for peaceful co-existence, pointing out that Miseriah and Dinka have coexisted peacefully throughout the ages.

Bakhet voiced the Miseriah's total rejection of the experts' report which he described as partial and unacceptable and affirmed that a referendum for Abyei is out of the question unless the experts report has been abolished.

Abyie Commissioner did not rule out renewal of armed clashes after the present relative calmness of the situation because of some unruly and undisciplined SPLA troops who act out of their own initiative. He urged SPLM to exercise more control over its troops. He reiterated that the security situation in the town is free from breaches though the town itself which, he said, is largely vacant of its civilian population, pointing out that conditions have to be arranged for their return.

Meanwhile, Abyeir civil administration representatives and elders yesterday sat with UNSG Special Envoy Ashraf Qazi, who is on a visit to the region, and briefed him on the situation during the past few days. Bakhet quoted Qazi as pledging to exert efforts to trigger development in the region and preclude similar bloody clashes in future.

The Nuba Mountains Homepage was made by Nanne op 't Ende.
You can contact me here.