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STORY: SUDAN / ABYEI SECURITY COUNCIL WRAP
TRT: 3.49
SOURCE: UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /ARABIC/ NATS
DATELINE: 22 MAY 2011, ABYEI, KHARTOUM, KADUGLI SUDAN
22 MAY 2011, ABYEI, SUDAN
1. Various shots, burning huts
2. Wide shot, thatched houses and vehicle driving past
3. Tracking shot, view of huts
4. Various shots, burnt vehicle in UN camp
5. Tracking shot, UN convoy of vehicles being turned back after being stopped from an assessment drive
6. Med shot, Troops in flak jackets and UN officals returning and walking back into camp
22 MAY 2011, KHARTOUM, SUDAN
7. Wide shot, Security Council Members entering a media briefing
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Gerard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, President of the Security Council (May 2011):
“The members of the Security Council, condemn the escalatory military operations being undertaken by the Sudanese armed forces, which have taken control of the area in and around Abyei town. This constitutes a serious violation of the Comprehensive Peace agreement that threatens to undermine the mutual commitment of the parties to avoid a return to war and resolve all remaining CPA and post-CPA issues peacefully.”
9. Med shot, cameras
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Gerard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, President of the Security Council (May 2011):
“The members of the Security Council condemn the attack by Southern Forces against the United Nations Mission convoy escorting Sudanese Armed Forces elements of Joint Integrated Units on 19 May in Abyei and stress that the attack was not only a serious breach of agreements between the parties, but also a criminal act against a United Nations mission and it’s personnel.”
11. Cutaway, Susan Rice, United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations at the podium
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“We have obviously also come to express our concern about the situation in Abyei which has only become more grave over the course of the last few days. We think it is imperative that the violence stops, that the parties withdraw from the area of Abyei – in particularly the advance that was conducted into Abyei be reversed and that government forces withdraw so that the parties can return to the process of negotiating these crucial issues with seriousness and urgency.”
22 MAY 2011, ABYEI, SUDAN
13. Various of two soldiers from UNMIS who were injured by shrapnel (on 21st May)
14. Aerial, unknow people in town
22 MAY 2011, KADUGLI, SUDAN
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zacharia Atem, National Congress Party Chairman in Abyei
“Today morning the Sudan Armed Forces advances towards the south. Yesterday there were clashes o their way. We did not know what happened there – but there were clashes.”
22 MAY 2011, ABYEI, SUDAN
19. Aerial shots of military vehicles in Abyei town
22 MAY 2011, KADUGLI, SUDAN
20. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zacharia Atem, National Congress Party Chairman in Abyei
“The citizens of Abyei all fled and crossed the river and some of them have gone to Fajok and Wau. The people have started to be displaced again. These days it is bad because the rains have started. Now they are suffering under the trees.”
21. More aerial shots
STORY:
The United Nations has strongly condemned the continuing escalation of violence in Sudan's disputed area of Abyei, including increased troop movements and exchanges of heavy and small arms fire between the security forces of the Governments of Sudan and Southern Sudan.
From the air as one arrives Abyei town, one can see some thatched houses burning and deserted homesteads – as was witnessed by an air assessment by the United Nations on Sunday 22nd.
Villagers of Abyei town fled the town where artillery shells, mortar shells and a lot of small arms fire has been heard.
Following a recent attack on a UN convoy and heavy fighting in and around Abyei, UNMIS Force Commander Maj. Gen. Moses Obi visited the area and expressed hope that warring parties would return to their earlier agreements.
While in the UN compound, Maj. Gen. Obi visited two Egyptian soldiers who were injured on the evening of 21 May as mortar rounds fell on it.
According to unverified reports from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, thousands of people have crossed Bahr El-Arab (Kiir River) at Banton Bridge and spread across multiple locations southwards towards Agok. Reports also indicate that people fled quickly with few belongings. Heavy rains during the night of 21 May and 22 May have slowed their movement.
The two parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement -- the National Congress Party and the Southern People’s Liberation Movement -- had in January signed the Kadugli Agreements, which called for the withdrawal of all unauthorized forces from the area and deployment of Joint Integrated Units (JIUs).
The parties have since re-committed themselves to the agreement, but on 19 May there was an attack on an UNMIS convoy transporting 200 troops of SAF-JIUs to their designated post, as part of the Kadugli Agreements’ deployment plan.
Meanwhile, Members of the UN Security Council on Sunday called on the Sudanese government during a four-day visit to the country to halt its military operations and withdraw immediately from the Abyei area.
SOUNDBITE (English) Gerard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, President of the Security Council (Until end of May)
“The members of the Security Council, condemn the escalatory military operations being undertaken by the Sudanese armed forces, which have taken control of the area in and around Abyei town. This constitutes a serious violation of the Comprehensive Peace agreement that threatens to undermine the mutual commitment of the parties to avoid a return to war and resolve all remaining CPA and post-CPA issues peacefully.”
The council further demanded the “immediate withdrawal of all military elements from Abyei and the full implementation of the Kadugli Agreement”.
Council members also deplored the unilateral dissolution of the Abyei administration, calling for it to be re-established by mutual agreement without delay. Underscoring the parties’ responsibility to protect civilians, they also strongly condemned recent shelling of the UN compound in Abyei.
The council also condemned the attack against an UNMIS convoy escorting SAF elements of Joint Integrated Units on 19 May in Abyei.
SOUNDBITE (English) Gerard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, President of the Security Council (Until end of May)
“The members of the Security Council condemn the attack by Southern Forces against the United Nations Mission convoy escorting Sudanese Armed Forces elements of Joint Integrated Units on 19 May in Abyei and stress that the attack was not only a serious breach of agreements between the parties, but also a criminal act against a United Nations mission and it’s personnel.”
Speaking in Kadugli on his way to Khatoum and shortly after leaving Abyei town, Zacharia Atem, the National Congress Party Chairman in Abyei described some of what was going on in Abyei.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zacharia Atem, National Congress Party Chairman in Abyei
“Today morning the Sudan Armed Forces advances towards the south. Yesterday there were clashes o their way. We did not know what happened there – but there were clashes.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zacharia Atem, National Congress Party Chairman in Abyei
“The citizens of Abyei all fled and crossed the river and some of them have gone to Fajok and Wau. The people have started to be displaced again. These days it is bad because the rains have started. Now they are suffering under the trees.”
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday issued a statement condemning the ongoing escalation of violence in Abyei and expressed concern for the safety of the area’s civilian population.
.
Ban deplored the actions of those responsible for the shelling of the United Nations compound, an assault that wounded two peacekeepers, and demanded that the perpetrators be held accountable for the attack.
He appealed to both sides in the conflict to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and reiterated his call for an investigation into the attacks on United Nations troops in Goli on 10 May and the raid on a UN-escorted convoy on Thursday to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Deadly clashes have claimed dozens of lives since the start of the year, when a referendum on Abyei''s status that was supposed to have been held never took place amid disagreement on voter eligibility.
Southern Sudan will formally secede from the rest of the country on 9 July as a result of a separate referendum held in January and both north and south claim Abyei.
