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By SRS
Posted to the web on July 20, 2009 |
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July 20, 2009 (Juba) —– The Sudan People’s Liberation Army has denied a UN report that the SPLA has deployed troops in Abyei, in anticipation of the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on Wednesday July 22.
The United Nations Special Representative to Sudan, Ashraf Qazi, accuses the SPLA of deploying their troops in Abyei, in violation of the road map agreement signed last year between SAF and the SPLA.
On Monday from Juba, SPLA spokesman Major General Kuol Deim Kuol described the report as a baseless and fabrication.
[Kuol Deim]: “This report is incorrect; it was just created by Ashraf Qazi and doesn’t exist on the ground at all. We heard this information yesterday (Sunday) on the BBC and in the Khartoum newspapers. We called the operational commander in the SPLA’s general leadership; he confirmed that no SPLA troops have moved towards Abyei town. The second thing is that we spoke to the SPLA forces present south of Abyei in a place called Mijangkol. It is located outside the Abyei area. We spoke to them and they said that no forces have entered Abyei or even reached Agok. So where did Ashraf Qazi get this information? The person who is in charge of Abyei at the moment, Arop Mayak, said that there is nothing like that in the area, so this talk is incorrect, it was just created by Ashraf for reasons best known to him.”
The SPLM spokesman for the Abyei area, Worr Majack, also refuted the UN report.
He reiterated the SPLM’s commitment to accept the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
[Worr Majak]: “We have affirmed our commitment to the judgment concerning the Abyei area. Whatever the case, whether it will benefit the National Congress Party or the SPLM, we are committed to accepting it. In our statement we condemn the statement by Ashraf Qazi, we regard it as a false statement and we urge the population not to pay attention to such negative statements at such a critical moment for the people of Abyei.”
Worr Majak, the SPLM spokesman in Abyei, was speaking to Sudan Radio Service on Monday.
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