Release International

Northern troops occupying the border town of Abyei are accused of trying to oust southerners from the area ahead of the 2011 referendum.

Most of Abyei is in ruins after fierce clashes between northern and southern troops, both trying to claim the oil-rich area in central Sudan as their own (7x7, May 27 2008). Recent estimates suggest that up to 100,000 people have now fled the area: most of them returned home only recently after the civil war.

The fighting has now subsided but tensions are high. The BBC reports that the town is now controlled by northern troops – but that a further build-up of southern troops is expected.

Some analysts believe that the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) of 2005 is now in jeopardy. Both sides are threatening a return to the civil war which pitted the mainly Arab and Muslim north against the south, which is predominantly Christian or animist.

In an interview with the BBC, Pagan Amum, secretary general of former southern rebels the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, said: 'We are on the brink of war. We are not actually having options here. War... is not a good option. It is a possibility.'

Under the terms of the peace deal, northern and southern troops were to withdraw from Abyei once an independent commission had decided where its borders should lie. Abyei residents were to decide whether to join the north or south in the 2011 referendum, when all southerners are due to vote on secession from the north.

But President Omar al-Bashir rejected the commission's report and both sides have kept troops in the area. Each side blames the other for this latest outbreak of violence.

Pray for Abyei residents, forced to flee their homes yet again.

Pray that this latest violence will force politicians on both sides to bury their differences and commit to building the peace together.

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