20110525
Xinhua
KHARTOUM, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Tuesday that Abyei "belongs to north Sudan" and the Sudanese army would not pull out of it.

"The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) wants to make Dinka tribesmen the first class citizens and Mesiria tribesmen second class citizens in Abyei and we will never accept that," al- Bashir said when addressing a celebration of Sudanese teachers in Khartoum Tuesday.

He reiterated that Abyei belongs to north Sudan, saying "the army will not withdraw from Abyei. We do not want the U.S. carrot and we are not afraid of its stick."

Al-Bashir further lashed out at the SPLM which he said has gone too far in its provocations against the Sudanese army, adding that the movement wanted to impose a reality in Abyei via mobilizing its troops in the area and recoiling from fulfilling its repeated promises to pull its troops out of Abyei.

"The SPLM thought the Sudanese army was unable to fight the war as it was occupied by the situation in Darfur, but we are ready for war," said al-Bashir.

"I have given instructions to the Sudanese army to respond to any provocations by the SPLM, anywhere," he added.

The Sudanese president's statements came at a time when tension is escalating between north and south Sudan due to the recent developments in the country's disputed oil-rich area of Abyei.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has recently taken control of Abyei in respond to an attack by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) against a SAF convoy which resulted in killing of 22 of its soldiers.

The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on Tuesday said more than 15,000 civilians have fled from Abyei to Agok area in south Sudan after the SAF controlled Abyei.

A referendum on Abyei was supposed to be held on Jan. 9, 2011, coincident with the south Sudan referendum, but it was postponed in the wake of a difference between the NCP and the SPLM over who have the right to vote in the referendum.