Sudan Clash Near Village in Abyei Region Kills Five, Local Official Says

Four Sudanese civilians and a policeman were killed yesterday when gunmen attacked a village in the disputed region of Abyei, the chief administrator of the area said.

The attack occurred near the village of Tajalei, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northeast of Abyei town, Chief Administrator Deng Arop Kuol said today in a telephone interview.

Abyei is due to hold a referendum in January to decide whether to be part of Sudan’s north or south. Southern Sudan is scheduled to vote at the same time to decide if it should become an independent nation.

“The idea is to keep the border demarcation from taking place, and to keep the referendum from taking place,” Kuol said, referring to the motives behind the attack.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague last July gave the Ngok Dinka people, who see themselves as southerners, control over Abyei. The Misseriya people, who back the north, objected to the decision out of fear they won’t be able to graze their cattle in Abyei during the dry season, especially if Southern Sudan secedes.

The Misseriya fought with the north during the two-decade civil war against southern rebels that ended in 2005.

Disputes between the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya erupted in violence in 2008, killing 89 people and displacing 90,000, according the United Nations.

To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Boswell in Juba via kmaier2@bloomberg.net.

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