Hague court redefines Sudan's Abyei boundaries
A man sits next to his sick son at the Abyei hospital, which was looted, in Abyei town in central Sudan July 8, 2009. Abyei lies at the heart of an oil-producing, pastoral district at the heart of Africa's largest country, straddling its undefined north-south border. Picture taken July 8, 2009. REUTERS
THE HAGUE, Wednesday (Reuters)
An international court redefined the eastern and western boundaries of the disputed oil-producing Abyei area claimed by both north and south Sudan, but left its northern border intact, in a ruling on Wednesday.
The borders of Abyei, often called the "Kashmir" of Sudan's north-south conflict and coveted by both sides, were outlined by an international panel after a 2005 peace agreement that ended more than 20 years of civil war between north and south Sudan.
But after Sudan's government challenged the boundaries, a deal was reached with the former southern rebels, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), to refer the issue to the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Both promised to accept its decision.
Analysts said the eastern border was moved slightly to the west, leaving a majority of the area's oil supplies such as the Heglig oil field within Sudan's area, while leaving a smaller amount of the oil still within the Abyei area.
"We want peace. We think this decision is going to consolidate the peace," said Riek Machar, the SPLM's representative. "We came to see justice and it's a decision we will respect."
Abyei has been promised a referendum in January 2011 on whether it wants to join north or south Sudan. On the same day, south Sudan as a whole has been promised a vote on whether to become an independent country.
Elections have also been scheduled for April 2010.
But in May last year, fighting erupted again between South Sudanese former rebels and northern government forces in the Abyei region.
