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| Posted to the web on July 22, 2009 |
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July 22, 2009 (Abyei) – Reporting from Abyei, Peter Martell described the atmosphere on the ground following the announcement from the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
[Peter Martell]: “The mood here on the ground has been pretty calm. I was traveling around this morning and there were children going to school, the market was open. Since the actual ruling this afternoon, there has been a small demonstration - maybe about one thousand people celebrating. It seems a very happy demonstration, no violence. Celebrating and shouting: “Abyei is our land!” They appeared to be mainly from the Dinka Ngok praising the SPLM and supporting it. It has been more of about celebrating peace than demonstrating the differences between the two (Messiriya and Dinka Ngok) groups. It is finished now and the town has return to calm. I have spoken to the local people on the ground and they were nervous at the beginning but they seem to be calm at the moment. I should say that on the ground I haven’t seen any troop movement. What the officials have said - and this is backed up by the UNMIS, United Nations Peace keeping force - is that they have not reported any recent troop movements. The only presence that I have been informed of now is the official JIU that are the only people officially in Abyei that I know of. What we do know is that the official position of the government has been very vocal and the government of southern Sudan has been very clear that they have accepted this decision. So it seems calm right now and hopefully it will remain that way. It is raining, so people have gone indoors and hopefully Abyei will be calm.”
That was Peter Martell, reporting for Sudan Radio Service, from Abyei.
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