Addressing the press yesterday in Juba, the chairperson of the Abyei Referendum Forum, Chol Deng Alak said the situation called for the international community’s strengthened pressure on the NCP to withdraw from Abyei.
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said last month he would not recognize South Sudan as an independent state if it claimed the oil-producing Abyei region in its Constitution.
Mr. Deng said Basher’s statements shows the NCP intends to derail the Abyei referendum.
Although the south’s draft constitution that was accomplished last month laid a claim to Abyei, its future still remains a mystery since there is no agreement so far between the NCP and SPLM.