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Abyei - a border that shapes the future

As the International Criminal Court laid charges of genocide against President Omer el Beshir on 14 July, Africa Confidential obtained a United Nations' internal report that blames the Khartoum regime for much of the death and destruction in Abyei in May. The report criticises the UN's shortcomings in Sudan but also notes that government bomber aircraft targeted aid headquarters and that local people regard goverment strategy as ethnic cleansing.

The immediate trigger for the crisis over Abyei is Khartoum's refusal to accept a ruling made by the Abyei Boundaries Commission (ABC) under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the ruling National Congress party (NC, aka National Islamic Front) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. Many fear the entire CPA may therefore unravel....

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Abyei - a border that shapes the future

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