Sudan: UN panel monitoring referenda visits Abyei

Members of the United Nations panel tasked with monitoring the referenda on self-determination in Sudan today visited central area of Abyei, where they met with the area’s chief administrator, other local officials and community chiefs.

The panel’s chairperson, former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa, stressed to the chiefs from the Dinka ethnic group that the problems in Abyei – an area rich in oil reserves that lies on the border between southern and northern Sudan and is claimed by both sides – must be resolved peacefully.

Sudanese are slated to vote on 9 January on whether the south should secede from the rest of the country and also to determine the final status of Abyei, as set out in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the long-running war between north and south.

Members of the panel were also briefed by UN officials in Abyei on the latest developments in the referendum process.

This is the second visit to Sudan for the three-member panel, which was set up by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in response to a request by the Sudanese Government for a body to help enhance the credibility of the referenda and ensure the acceptance of their results by their constituencies and the international community.

As part of their week-long visit, the panel members will visit Wad Medani in the north tomorrow to see voter registration centres there and speak with local officials.

In addition to Mr. Mkapa, the team also includes António Monteiro, a former foreign minister of Portugal, and Bhojraj Pokharel, a former chairman of Nepal's election commission.