North May ‘Cleanse’ Sudanese Border Town, U.N. Says

Source: The New York Times

NAIROBI, Kenya — After seizing a disputed town on the border of the breakaway region of southern Sudan on Saturday, the army of northern Sudan is now facilitating a relatively large influx of nomadic people into the area, according to new United Nations field reports.

United Nations officials said the move could mean that the Sudanese government is trying to “ethnically cleanse” the area, in a bid to permanently change its demographics and annex the town, Abyei, just weeks before southern Sudan is supposed to split off from the north and form its own country.

As the July target for the south’s independence draws near, the battles over Abyei have grown more intense, and the moves by the north have threatened to plunge the two sides into a conflict that diplomats fear could scuttle the carefully choreographed treaty arranging for the south to become the world’s newest state.

One United Nations official said a northern Sudanese general revealed this week that there was a plan to bring 15,000 Misseriya, an Arab and nomadic people, into Abyei in the coming days, which could have a serious impact on Abyei’s delicate demographics. Other United Nations officials estimated that 5,000 to 10,000 Misseriya had already entered Abyei town.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/world/africa/26sudan.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all