UN chief slams deadly attack on peacekeepers in Abyei

UNITED NATIONS (Xinhua) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday lashed out at a deadly attack in Abyei, an area contested by South Sudan and Sudan, which left a top tribal chief and a UN peacekeeper dead, and two other peacekeepers seriously wounded.

"The secretary-general strongly condemns the killing of the Ngok Dinka Paramount Chief DengKuol Deng and a UNISFA peacekeeper in an attack by a Misseriya assailant on a UNISFA convoy in the Abyei Area, today," said a statement issued by Ban's spokesman late Saturday. "Two peacekeepers were also seriously wounded in the incident."

The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) was authorized by the UN Security Council in November 2012 to group a maximum of 4,200 military personnel, 50 police personnel, and appropriate civilian support. Its current strength is 3,977 total uniformed personnel, including 3,827 troops and 140 military observers.

The top tribal chief and the UN peacekeeper were killed on Saturday in clashes involving rival tribes in Abyei, which straddles the border between Sudan and South Sudan and is claimed by both countries.

"The secretary-general urges the governments of Sudan and South Sudan and the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities to remain calm and avoid any escalation of this unfortunate event," said the statement.

"This proves again how crucially important it is for the two governments to establish the temporary institutions as stipulated in the 20 June 2011 Agreement and continue discussions on the final status of the Abyei Area," it added.

In March, Sudan and South Sudan agreed to resume cross-border oil flows and defuse tensions which have plagued them since South Sudan's independence from Sudan in 2011.

But the two countries have not yet reached an agreement so far on the ownership of the oil-rich Abyei, which is reportedly inhabited by the Dinka tribe allied to South Sudan and the Misseriya, an Arab tribe following Sudan.

The final status of Abyei is one of the outstanding issues of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which helped bring an end to the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan, before the latter's independence in July 2011.