U.N. Sudan chief raises alarm over oil area troops

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The head of the United Nations in Sudan accused south Sudanese soldiers Saturday of straying into the contested oil area of Abyei, stoking tension ahead of a sensitive ruling on the region's boundaries.

The armies of north Sudan and its semi-autonomous south, which clashed in Abyei last year, had agreed to stay out of the area to prevent further escalations in violence, as part of a deal brokered by the United Nations.

U.N. special representative Ashraf Qazi said Saturday he had received several "reports and confirmations" that soldiers from the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and police had entered land around Abyei and urged them to withdraw.

Both north and south Sudan claim Abyei, which is close to key oil fields and a pipeline.

The borders of Abyei were one of the most sensitive issues left undecided in a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war between Sudan's Muslim north and its mostly Christian south.

Both sides referred the issue to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague last year and have promised to accept the court's decision, whichever way it falls.

But the ruling, expected Wednesday, could still be divisive. Analysts have warned there is a real risk of a return to conflict in Abyei, a region with much of the ethnic tension and bitterness over perceived government neglect that fuelled fighting in Sudan's neighbouring Darfur region.

Any return to civil war in Sudan would have a disastrous impact on the country, its oil industry and the surrounding region.

VIOLATION OF AGREEMENT

Qazi said southern troops had been seen close to Agok, a nearby settlement where tens of thousands of Abyei residents fled after the fierce fighting between northern and southern troops in May last year.

"This is a clear violation of the Abyei Roadmap Agreement and could lead to escalation and violence if it remained unchecked," he said, referring to the agreement signed after last year's clashes.

He said he was alarmed by unconfirmed reports that forces and commanders involved in the May fighting had returned to the area. "Their presence, if confirmed, could be particularly destructive," he said.

Security in Abyei is the responsibility of Joint Integrated Units, made up of both northern and southern troops and police, overseen by a joint administration led by northern and southern officials.

But the administration has said it has been starved of funding by the Khartoum government, while the joint units lack the equipment and resources to do their job.

Two million people died and 4 million fled their homes between 1983 and 2005 as north and south Sudan battled over differences in ideology, ethnicity and religion.

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement shared oil revenues between the north and south, set up a coalition government and promised elections, now scheduled for April 2010, and a referendum on southern independence in January 2011.~

(Editing by Tim Pearce)

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