Sudanese Rivals Sign Abyei Accord
The rival governments of north and south Sudan signed an accord Monday on the demilitarization of the disputed Abyei frontier region, mediator Thabo Mbeki told the U.N. Security Council.
The former South African president, who heads an African Union panel mediating on Sudan, said the accord had been signed "in the last hour" before his address to the Security Council by video link from Addis Ababa.
He said the accord covered the withdrawal of Sudanese forces and demilitarization of Abyei, which was occupied by the north's army on May 21. Tens of thousands of people have since fled, mainly to the south.
Mbeki said there was also hope that armies and militias loyal to the two sides would halt conflict in the Sudanese state of South Kordofan, which is also near the border.
Tensions have escalated between the two sides ahead of Southern Sudan's declaration of independence on July 9.
Two decades of civil war up to 2005 left two million dead.
Source: Agence France Presse
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