Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Sudanese foes signed an agreement Monday in which Khartoum agreed to withdraw troops from the disputed territory of Abyei and allow the use of Ethiopian troops to fill a security vacuum in a deal that appeared to cast doubts on the neutrality of UN troops there. According to the agreement, a copy of which was made available to journalists, the two sides agreed to the formation of a joint administration in Abyei, headed by a Southerner, but with a Northerner as a deputy administrator and agreed to use the 2009 ruling by a Court at The Hague as the valid boundary. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki signed the agreement as a witness. The two sides appealed to the UN and the African Union (AU) to appoint a non-executive member of the Abyei administration, which would have an Ethiopian commander of the Abyei force as an observer.

And in a landmark step that brought optimism that an agreement would be arrived at the settle the Abyei conflict once and for all, the North and South Sudan agreed to allow Mbeki’s AU High Level Implementation Panel, to work out the details of a settlement with the Sudanese leaders directly.

Proposals have been made before that Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir should sign an Executive Order, to give back Abyei to South Sudan, or have the dispute settled through a referendum.

The referendum option appears to ignite more opposition because the Abyei’s Southern-linked tribe, the Ngok Dinka, oppose the inclusion of the Northern-allied tribe, the Misseriya. This led to a deadlock.

The latest Abyei agreement comes just three weeks before the Southern Sudan is due to formally declare independence from the North, ending a six-year long marriage that was crafted in Nairobi.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which helped to end the 21-year-long civil war in the South, had a separate protocol on Abyei, which was carefully renegotiated and amended by the Addis Ababa accord on the peaceful settlement of Abyei.

Northern Sudanese forces invaded Abyei and wrestled its control, earning international condemnation from the UN Security Council.

The two sides specifically pushed for the involvement of the UN and the AU in the implementation of the Abyei agreement.

The latest fighting in Abyei saw the flight of 100,000 people from the area after heavy bombardments, mainly carried out by the Russian-made Antonov planes.

The fighting was being interpreted as an attempt to spoil South Sudan’s independence party, which has attracted several foreign dignitaries.

The two sides agreed that future disputes would be referred to the Presidents of the South and the North respectively. The international observers would be required to make their views known on the particular dispute when the contentious points are submitted to the principals.

Pana 21/06/2011