20101206
Sudan Tribune

Sudanese presidency will meet on Monday to discuss the future of the central Sudan disputed region of Abyei as the referendum on southern Sudan independence will take place within a month.

In this meeting repeatedly postponed during the past weeks, the two peace partners are supposed to determine their position from a number of proposals submitted by the head of the African Union High Level Panel on Sudan Thabo Mbeki.

The presidency meeting that takes place on Monday in the presence of the high level African panel will consider proposals on the issue of Abyei, said Ibrahim Gandour Political Secretary of the National Congress Party (NCP).

Last November the United States which brokered the peace deal and continues to play crucial role to ensure its implementation, admitted it might not be possible to organize the referendum in January as scheduled.

Yet "we recognize that given that there is not agreement between north and south on the details of that referendum, if they, you know, are able to arrive at a different course of action, that is up to them, but it has to be a mutually agreeable alternative," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley on 9 November.

The meeting of the Sudanese presidency will decide over a number of propositions formulated initially by the US envoy to Sudan. Among others, the presidency might agree on alternatives to the referendum.

"We in the National Congress do not need someone to give us a deadline when it comes to implementing the peace agreement which we are keen to realize," he said commenting on statements by Dinka Ngok saying deadline given to the NCP and SPLM is over.

The Dinka Ngok in Khartoum staged a protest in Khartoum against statements by President Omer Al-Bashir before the NCP consultative council saying no referendum in Abyei without the participation of Misseriya.

The two peace signatories of 2005 deal have failed to agree on the eligibility of Abyei voters in a referendum supposed to be conducted simultaneously with the southern Sudan vote on independence next January.

Frederic Noy/UNMIS

Sunset in the Abyei region of Molomol.

The Southern Sudan ruling party says only Dinka Ngok and other permanent residents have the right to vote in Abyei Referendum. The SPLM position is based on the decision of arbitration tribunal which stated that the region belongs to the nine Dinka Ngok chiefdoms.

On the other hand, the NCP leadership says the decision of The Hague court confirms the Misseriya grazing rights in the region. President Bashir said the right over the land does not exclude the cattle herders from taking part in the referenda.

Abyei population has to vote on 9 January 2011 to decide whether they want to remain part of southern Kordofan state or join southern Sudan which is expected to vote for independence on the same day.