20110527
presstv
The number of people displaced as a result of violence in the Abyei region of southern Sudan has reached 150,000, a southern Sudanese minister says.



“The situation is terrible, they are running in fear from brutal violence, without shelter," Southern Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs Minister James Kok Ruea said.

Many of those fleeing are believed to be hiding in the bushes for fear of attacks.

The air and ground patrols have only spotted heavy concentration of armed men.

Analysts fear the dispute over the Abyei region, which is also claimed by South Sudan, could reignite the civil war in the country in which some 1.5 million people died. South Sudan is due to become independent in July.

Tensions mounted last week after a convoy of northern soldiers and UN peacekeepers came under attack and the incident was blamed on southern forces.

On Thursday, southern President Salva Kiir said he would not lead his people back into conflict with the north over Abyei and said talks would be the best way to resolve the dispute.