South Sudan/Sudan (Abyei)

One year on from the date that the disputed territory of Abyei was due to decide whether it would join South Sudan or remain governed by Khartoum - north of what is now a new international border - Abyei leaders have called for international intervention to resolve the issue.

The Security Council today expanded the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping force for the Abyei area, which is contested by South Sudan and Sudan, to include, among other tasks, assisting the two parties to abide by and implement their agreements on the demilitarization of the area.

The Security Council today deplored the failure by the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to redeploy their troops from the disputed Abyei area and urged the two countries to do so immediately and without preconditions.

Sudan’s army said on Friday it will not withdraw troops from Abyei unless a deal signed with South Sudan on managing the hotly-contested region is fully implemented. On 6 October, the United Nations reported that neither Sudan nor South Sudan have fulfilled their pledges to withdraw their troops from the border region of Abyei, which is claimed by both.

Sudan has pledged to withdraw its army from the contested region of Abyei following the full deployment of UN peacekeepers as South Sudan urged the UN Security Council to give Khartoum an ultimatum on the issue.

Sudanese government troops remain in the disputed border region of Abyei, in contempt of a deadline agreed to by northern and southern officials that all troops would withdraw from the area by last Friday. In public remarks, Sudanese officials have been intransigent—and misleading—about why the deadline was not met.

Sudan government troops have yet to comply with the first phase of a withdrawal schedule aimed at demilitarizing the disputed Abyei area that sits between Sudan and South Sudan. According to the timeline, signed by Sudanese and South Sudanese government officials two weeks ago, the northern Sudan Armed Forces, or SAF, should have withdrawn out of Abyei town by the end of last week. Southern and U.N. sources say that SAF remain in Abyei town.

The Sudanese government on Wednesday dismissed last week’s announcement by a senior United Nations official of a deal reached between Sudan and South Sudan on withdrawing troops from the contested region of Abyei.

Sudan and newly independent South Sudan have agreed to withdraw their troops from the disputed town of Abyei by the end of the month, the UN says. The deputy head of UN peacekeeping, Edmond Mulet, says the deal was brokered by the African Union at talks in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

Sudan has reaffirmed rejection to the appointment of any employee of the outgoing UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).