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STORY: UN / ABYEI- FRANCES DENG
TRT: 2.52
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 09 MAY 2013, NEW YORK
FILE – 2012, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
09 MAY 2013, NEW YORK
2. Wide shot, South Sudanese Ambassador Frances Deng approaches microphone
3. Cutaway, journalist taking notes
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Frances Deng, Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Sudan:
“This was not by any means an isolated incident. It is a culmination of a pattern. And it has of course been well known that throughout the war between north and south, the government (of Sudan) has always recruited, trained, armed and unleashed the Misseriya Arabs extensively to fight against the rebel movements in the South but invariably turning against the civilians, killing, looting, burning villages and forcing populations to flee out of the area, thereby depopulating the area.”
5. Cutaway, journalist taking notes
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Frances Deng, Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Sudan:
“We have been receiving reports of continuing attacks by armed Misseriya Arabs in the north are killing people, looting cattle and burning villages. Some of these incidents happen in front of UNISFA forces. All were reported to them and their argument invariably was that their mandate was to protect civilians from uniformed armed groups from the government of Sudan and of South Sudan and that it did not cover intercepting civilian individuals even if they were armed.”
7. Cutaway, journalist taking notes
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Frances Deng, Permanetn Representative of the Republic of South Sudan:
“In recent discussion that I had with the Force Commander -and also leaders from South Sudan including Ministers discussed with them, with the Force Commander-, he confirmed the limitations on his mandate although he did say that he was doing his best creatively to prevent the Misseriya from attacking the Dinga or minimizing violence in the area..”
9. Cutaway, journalist taking notes
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Frances Deng, Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Sudan:
“This tragic incident could easily lead to the escalation of violence and conflict in the area which frankly could even trigger a resumption of hostilities between north Sudan that is and South Sudan which everybody agrees must not be allowed must be stopped.”
11. Cutaway, journalist taking notes
12. Zoom out, Ambassador Frances Deng leaves microphone behind
While talking about the recent (4 May) attack by ethnic Misseriya pastoralist tribesmen on a UN convoy in Abyei, South Sudan’s Ambassador said today (9 May) at the United Nations that “this was not by any means an isolated incident.” He added that “it is a culmination of a pattern.”
Ambassador Frances Deng, who happens to be the brother of the Ngok Dinka Paramount Chief Kuol Deng Kuol who was murdered, together with an Ethiopian peacekeeper, also said that the South Sudanese government had been receiving reports of “continuing attacks by armed Misseriya Arabs in the north, killing people, looting cattle and burning villages.”
Deng pointed out that those incidents happened “in front of UNISFA forces.” He added that all the incidents had been reported, and their argument “invariably was that their mandate was to protect civilians from uniformed armed groups from the government of Sudan and of South Sudan and that it did not cover intercepting civilian individuals even if they were armed.”
Deng also noted that in recent talks with the Force Commander in South Sudan, “he confirmed the limitations on his mandate although he did say that he was doing his best creatively to prevent the Misseriya from attacking the Dinga or minimizing violence in the area.”
Deng cautioned that “this tragic incident could easily lead to the escalation of violence and conflict in the area which frankly could even trigger a resumption of hostilities between north Sudan that is and South Sudan.”
The attack in Abyei was the latest episode of violence in an ongoing feud pitting Ngok Dinka farmers against the Misseriya – two groups which have repeatedly clashed in the past, particularly in the area between Sudan and South Sudan which lacks clearly demarcated borders.
Due to the highly contested nature of Abyei, a 20 June 2011 agreement signed by the Government of Sudan and representatives of South Sudan, ahead of its official independence, called for the area’s demilitarization and the establishment of an administrative and police service.
