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                AU Calls for Sudan, South Sudan Summit on Abyei

   by Reuters

   The African Union (AU) called on Thursday for an urgent meeting of the
   leaders from Sudan and South Sudan to find a solution for the
   flashpoint Abyei region after the killing of a tribal leader and an
   Ethiopian peacekeeper.

   On Saturday, Kuwal Deng Mayok, the chief of the Dinka tribe allied to
   South Sudan, was killed by a member of the Misseriya tribe in Abyei
   claimed by Khartoum and Juba. One Ethiopian peacekeeper and 15
   Misseriya, who are allied to Sudan, also died, according to the U.N.
   and the Misseriya.

   In March, the African Union brokered a deal between Sudan and South
   Sudan to resume cross-border oil flows and defuse tensions which have
   plagued them since the South seceded in 2011 after an independence
   vote.

   But despite several recent meetings, Sudan's President Omar Hassan
   al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir have been unable to agree on the
   ownership of Abyei, which the Dinka and the Arab Misseriya call their
   home.

   Making a new push, the AU "urges the two heads of state... to meet
   immediately'', according to a statement released in Addis Ababa. "This
   grave incident that occurred in Abyei serves to underscore that the
   status quo in Abyei is not tenable.''

   Abyei straddles the border between the two Sudans, which fought one of
   Africa's longest civil wars. The province is prized for its fertile
   land and small oil reserves.

   Like South Sudan, Abyei was meant to have an independence vote, agreed
   under the 2005 peace deal which ended the civil war between the north
   and south. But Sudan and South Sudan have been unable to agree which
   tribal members should participate.

   Ethiopian peacekeepers have been administering Abyei since Sudan seized
   it in May 2011 following an attack on a convoy of U.N. peacekeepers and
   Sudanese soldiers which the United Nations blamed on southern forces.
   Khartoum later withdrew its forces under a U.N. peace plan.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/african-union-calls-for-sudan-south-s
   udan-summit-on-abyei/1658128.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/african-union-calls-for-sudan-south-sudan-summit-on-abyei/1658128.html