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Office of the Chairman,
Khartoum

For Immediate Release
29 May 2008

PRESS RELEASE
Field Visit to Abyei

Members of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC) established under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to monitor its implementation visited Abyei, Agok and Muglad yesterday, 28 May. The visiting mission included the representatives of the parties, led by H.E. Deng Alor, Minister of Foreign Affairs and H.E. Al Derdeeri Mohammed Ahmed, together with the chairman of the AEC and the ambassadors or representatives of the African Union, the European Union, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United Nations and the United States. The visit was arranged by the chair of the AEC Three Areas Working Group, the Embassy of the Netherlands, with the assistance of the United Nations.

The AEC chairman, Sir Derek Plumbly, told the press this morning, 29 May, following the Commission's return from the area that the purpose of the visit was to assess the current situation on the ground and to give Commission members a better understanding of factors which had led to the tragic escalation in violence over the last two weeks, and of steps which might assist in resolving the crisis. The facts with regard to recent events will be investigated separately in the context of the cease fire mechanisms established under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Sir Derek said that Commission members had listened to representatives of the parties on the ground and to community and traditional leaders in Agok and Muglad. They had also met with UN peacekeepers in Abyei and international and local humanitarian workers in Agok. The devastation and looting in Abyei town was deeply disturbing. The needs of the tens of thousands of displaced persons in and around Agok were being addressed by international agencies as best they could but the impending rainy season was a major complicating factor. It was of the greatest importance that the discussions currently underway between the parties lead to early understandings to permit the safe return of those who had been displaced. The present crisis underlined the overriding importance of rapid implementation of the Abyei Protocol.

Background
The AEC met in an extraordinary plenary session on 25 May to discuss the situation in Abyei. The AEC chair met with the Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan, H.E. Dr Riek Machar, on 26 May and the Vice President of the Republic, H.E Ali Osman Taha, the following day, 27 May, to convey to them members views with regard to the seriousness of the crisis and the way forward.

End of statement