Thousands flee Abyei of Sudan as militias move to the South

KHARTOUM/JUBA- of the tens of thousands of the disputed Abyei region of Sudan of persons have fled as accused of militias in the North to help seize the region over the weekend moved more to the South, the Organization of the United Nations said Wednesday.

Groups armed, regarded as the militias in the North, also opened fire on four helicopters of the UN in Abyei Tuesday, said a spokesman for the United Nations.

North Sudan sent the tanks in Abyei, a central region, producing of oil claimed by the North and South of the Sudan, on Saturday, triggering an international outcry.

The move comes at a sensitive time for Sudan, less than seven weeks before the South of the country should declare the independence of the North, in a 2005 peace agreement which ended decades of civil war.

Abyei is a key battlefield in the last war of secession of Sudan and a symbolic emblem for both parties. The area is used year-round by the Dinka Ngok people linked to the South and part of the year by northern nomadic Arab Misseriya.

Analysts fear more fighting over the area North-South could trigger a return to widespread conflict, a development which could have a devastating impact on the surrounding area.

Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has urged the North and the South to return to the negotiating table and to resist "other acts of aggression".

"We must impress all the parties that the military confrontation in Abyei is not an option," he said heads of State at a meeting of African Union in Addis Ababa.

Thousands of Abyei residents if enfuits out of the city of Agok, just over the border in southern Sudan, said aid groups.

Organizations of the United Nations and assistance said up to 40,000 has now been forced to leave their homes and move deeper in the South of Sudan.

"It is a huge number of people now on the road to Agok in Turalei, on muddy roads." Many children must be treated for dehydration, "said Gustavo Fernandez,. Manager of program, with the help of group Medecins Sans Frontieres

Agok, most of the refugees were living under the trees, while that 2 800 found refuge in a local school, said Alliance Anglican assistance group.

The group for the coordination of the Anglican Church, "civilians are down in the street and in the bushes, without food, no shelter, no water and no medical assistance," said in a report.

Militias Misseriya began to push further south after the persons have left the main settlement in the area of Abyei town, said the spokesman for the UN Hua Jiang.

"It was noted that they move to the South", she said.

Spokesperson of the army of the southern Philip Aguer has accused the North of the use of the Misseriya to perform a before the separation of the southern land grabbing.

"Misseriya are transported by the Sudanese armed forces (the army of the North) to Abyei." "They want to claim the Earth", he told Reuters.

NORTH DEFIANT

Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon urged the North and the South to return to the negotiating table and is resistant to the "more acts of aggression."

"We must impress all the parties that the military confrontation in Abyei is not an option," he said heads of State at a meeting of African Union in Addis Ababa.

Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir defies the U.S., United Nations and other calls to to withdraw, saying that abyei belonged to the North. "We will withdraw not of it", he said in Khartoum on Tuesday.

Demonstration of the North could force shaking a fragile political balance which took place in the largest countries in Africa since the agreement of 2005 end of the civil war which caused the death of millions.

It could also delay the restoration of normal diplomatic relations between northern Sudan and the outside world.

The United States Monday excluded dropping in a list of terrorism and restoration of Ambassador from Washington in Khartoum if it continues to occupy Abyei.

A total of 14 rounds were fired when United Nations helicopters took off from a United Nations compound, in the town of Abyei Tuesday but they landed safely, United Nations spokesman said Jiang.

Jiang said Misseriya Khartoum supported militias were probably responsible for the attack.

Fighting and looting - some bases which offer targeted United Nations agencies - had died down, she added.

Northern forces had deployed military aircraft at an air base in North in El Obeid to two fingers in Abyei, said the Sentinel Satellite Project (SSP), a monitoring group.

"The presence of these aircraft capable of attacks near Abyei is consistent with the reports of Sudanese armed forces (Northern) bombing attacks in Abyei in five days," said ssp.

No reliable casualty figure emerged and yet as aid agencies struggle to reach Abyei. Ambassador of Great Britain in Khartoum, Nicholas Kay, wrote on his blog that two of the Embassy staff had lost family members in the disputed region.

Several hurt in a crash of train South Africa

May 20, 2011 updated 04: 18 GMT some injured people were treated with torches to the scene of the accident more than 300 people were injured in an accident during the evening rush hour in the township of Soweto South Africa in Johannesburg.

Witnesses said a commuter train hit stationary train by behind and that the force of some of the passengers were thrown through the Windows.

At least two of the victims were reported to be in critical condition.

Officials have said it is one of the largest such incidents on railways in South Africa for years.

Photos of local television news showed losses treated at the scene by health care professionals - some of them tended to torchlight.

"About 300 people were injured, we asked for ambulances more to help transport people, hospitals" said Synock Matobako, a spokesman for emergency services.

Two persons were transported to the hospital, he said.

"It is the largest incident in recent years, even if no one is dead." People suffered several serious injuries. ?

The train was travelling between Mzimhlophe and Phomolo of Soweto during the evening rush hour.

One of the passengers, Gladwell Ntusi, described a loud bang followed by cries of hearing.

"It was horrible, I saw people with broken legs, another had cracked their temples. This was not a nice scene, he told journalists.

Now, an investigation was opened into the causes of the accident.

More than 640 injured in train crash South Africa

JOHANNESBURG  - a passenger injured more than 640 train accident Thursday night in the township of Soweto outside Johannesburg, local media reported the South Africa quoting emergency services.

The South African news agency SAPA said that two injured were in critical condition. She said that a train had apparently collided with a stationary of Soweto, the largest black township of the country.

Commuter train accident is a regular presence in South Africa. In 2009, nearly 300 people were injured in two separate train accidents that took place in the hours of interval.

In 2006, 27 people were killed when a truck carrying farm workers collided with a train of suburb at a level crossing.

North, South Sudan Abyei withdrawal of troops agreed: A

KHARTOUM, Sudan - North and southern Sudan have agreed to launch the withdrawal of troops not permitted in the flashpoint border region Abyei, the Organization of the United Nations said, a week after clashes that he caused the death of 14 people.

Both parties agreed that the pullout begins Tuesday and be completed within a week, the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) said late Sunday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of a Joint Committee composed of representatives of the North and the South and chaired by the General commanding the UNMIS Force Moses Obi, said the statement.

"The meeting agreed that the two parties will create an environment by de-escalating tensions speaking of their respective communities on the ground concerning the implementation of the agreements of Kadugli and guarantee freedom of access for UNMIS"said the peacekeeping mission.

A peace agreement signed by both parties in the capital of the State of southern Kordofan in Kadugli in January has called all forces to withdraw from the region bitterly disputed except the joint integrated units special (JIUS) staff of the North and South, the two army and police, alongside UN peacekeepers.

North and South have repeatedly accused each other of sending a large number of "irregular" soldiers to Abyei, in violation of the truce in January.

The Organization of the United Nations was not able to give estimates on the number of troops not permitted in the region, but he explains both armies were reinforcing their positions in and around Abyei in recent months.

The joint integrated units remains there, responsible for ensuring the security of the region.

It is not the first time that the North and South of the Sudan committed themselves to implement the agreements of Kadugli, and the International Crisis Group sounds a note of warning shortly after the announcement of the United Nationsby saying that the Abyei conflict had reached a point of no return.

Escalating tensions on the ground and between the leaders in Khartoum and Juba, who both made unilateral claims on Abyei, endangering the fragile peace in the Sudan and the smooth secession of the South, the think tank based in Brusselssaid.

"New escalation and risk of deployments of tit-for-tat additional forcing Sudan Abyei beyond the point of no return, evoking life and the fragile peace," she added.

The ICG warning comes a week after 14 people were killed at a checkpoint security only 17 kilometers (10 miles) North of the town of Abyei in fighting broke out between the police forces of the southern and Northern elements in integrated ago deployed mixed units.

Police had blocked a convoy of 200 troops and six landcruisers mounted with machine guns - as officials in Khartoum, said was an unauthorized arms shipment but South appointed Chief Administrator of the Abyei described as an "invasion."

The International Crisis Group described the joint integrated units as failure of the 2005 North-South peace agreement which had been largely wrong, who had already participated in large-scale clashes and have been characterized by mistrust.

Future status of Abyei is a raft of issues of Northern and southern Sudan are struggling to agree on prior to the full independence of the South, to be held in exactly two months the most sensitive.

Deadly fighting and recriminations have degenerated since January, when the region ought to vote on whether to join the North or South, alongside a referendum in the South which delivered a landslide for the secession.

But the plebiscite was postponed indefinitely in the middle of the impasse between North and South on who should be eligible to vote.

South Korea supports the commercial agreement of EU

the Convention has been ratified despite protests from the main opposition Korea in the South of the party Parliament ratified a free trade agreement with the European Union, the last hurdle for the Pact to come into force in July of compensation.

The Pact is expected to boost the value of trade in goods between the Korea of the South and the EU about billion euros (￡ 84bn).

This agreement will remove most tariffs and barriers to trade over the next five years.

Korea of the South has also signed a Pact to free trade with the United States.

The Grand National Party (GNP) decision was pushed through the agreement of free trade with the democratic opposition will boycott the vote.

"We expect the agreement to create 250 000 jobs, which is the largest form of welfare for workers and contribute enormously to their life improving revenue potential and price stabilization," said the spokesman of National Party great Bae Eun - hee.

The boycott of the Democratic Party was a dispute on the measures of protection for farmers and small businesses.

The European Parliament has ratified the Pact of free trade in February.