20110208
africanews

As Africa prepares to welcome the birth of a new country, military tensions have been on the rise among the new Joint Integerated Units (JIUs) deployed to the volatile town of Abyei during the last couple of days as northern Sudan JIU elements reject any attempt to relocate them northward.

The agreement that was signed last month between the Federal Minister of Interiors and the south Sudanese minister of interiors stipulated the replacement of south Sudanese police units deployed to the north of Abyei with two joint battalions from the south and the north.

During this week, the town's main market has witnessed heavy military presence as big numbers of troops were brought in last month. The JIU elements affiliated to the north rejected the chief administrator's proposal to go further north. According to some reports, north Sudan's JIU elements insisted to remain in the village of Dokra; while they were requested by the area's chief administrator, Deng Arop Koul, to move northward.

Such escalations remind the people in Abyei of the May 2008 incidents in which the town was totally burned to the ground. Tens of people were killed in these incidents while more than five thousand people were displaced. Abyei, which some people symbolize as Africa's Kashmir, is a contested area between the north and the south.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 promised the people of Abyei a referendum that was scheduled to take place simultaneously with that of the south. Unfortunately, this referendum could not take place due to disagreement between the north and south over voter eligibility.