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.

Affected thousands of ash flight delays

About 500 flights were cancelled in Europe on Tuesday, air traffic management body Eurocontrol said.

Flights from some airports in Scotland and northern England would be affected until 0100 BST on Wednesday, air traffic services company Nats said.

But the transport secretary said there should not be significant disruption for UK airports after Tuesday night.

Services at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Barra, Prestwick, Cumbernauld, Tiree, Carlisle and Durham Tees Valley could be affected until early on Wednesday.

UK air traffic control service Nats said the latest information from the Met Office showed no. volcanic ash was predicted in UK airspace from 0100 BST on Wednesday.

NATs said further updates would be made if the situation changed and passengers are advised to continue to check with their airline before travelling.

Meanwhile, Germany's Meteorological Service says airspace over the country's northern cities, including Bremen and Hamburg, will close from 0400 TSB (0500 local time) because of elevated levels of ash in the atmosphere.

The UK's emergency response committee, Cobra, met earlier to discuss the knock - on effects of the ash cloud.

After the meeting, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said there was cautious optimism for the coming days.

He said the ash plume had decreased in height and intensity, and south-westerly winds were predicted for the next two days which would move the cloud away from the UK.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) divides the airspace into areas of high-, medium-and low-density ash, and airlines wishing to fly in areas of medium - or high-density ash need to get a safety case accepted by the authority.

It said earlier that, although no. airlines had applied to fly in high-density ash, some had applied for, and been given, permission to fly in medium density.

Test plane

Mr Hammond said British Airways had been talking to the CAA to get permission to fly in higher density ash cloud areas in certain circumstances.

BA sent up a plane to test the ash on Tuesday evening.

An Airbus A320 left Manchester to fly over Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh before heading to Heathrow airport where the plane and its performance will be examined by engineers.

Continue reading the main story During last year's disruption, the advice was for planes to avoid the ash at all costsSince then, the CAA has worked towards a better understanding of what engines can takeThere are now three recognised levels of ash concentrationLow: 0 to 0.002 grams per cubic metreMedium: 0.002 to 0.004 grams per cubic metreHigh: Over 0.004 grams per cubic metreThere are no restrictions on flying in low ash concentrationHowever if an airline wants planes to fly through medium or high concentration ash, it must put forward a "safety case" to its aviation authority showing it has assessed whether the aircraft will be able to copeThe safety box includes information from a series of tests and consultations between the airlines plane and from manufacturersMr Hammond rejected claims by Irish carrier Ryanair that it would have been safe to continue flying in the areas of higher density ash cloud.

"We're quite prepared to talk to airlines about ways in which we can improve the regime on the basis of a properly demonstrated safety box," he said.

"But we're not going to be bullied by airlines or by anybody else when our primary responsibility is the safety of aircraft in British airspace and passengers leaving British airports."

Ryanair said it had safely made a test flight through ash over Scotland.

The airline said its 90-minute flight at 41,000 ft showed there was "No. visible volcanic ash cloud or evidence of ash on the airframe, wings or engines".

Goal a CAA spokesperson said: "The CAA can confirm that at no time did a Ryanair flight enter the notified area of high contamination ash over Scotland this morning."

The following airlines announced cancellations in the UK on Tuesday:

British Airways was not operating any flights to and from Glasgow, Edinburgh and NewcastleKLM cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle as well as from Durham Tees Valley AirportAer Lingus cancelled 12 flights to and from Glasgow, Aberdeen and EdinburghFlybe cancelled 11 flights to and from ScotlandBMI cancelled all flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow for the rest of TuesdayLoganair, based in Glasgow, cancelled 38 flights. Only inter-island routes in Orkney are unaffectedEastern Airways was not operating any services in or out of Scottish airspaceEasyjet cancelled flights to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen and NewcastleRyanair cancelled all flights to and from Scotland for the rest of Tuesday

Airports affected included Londonderry, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Prestwick, Durham Tees Valley, Newcastle and Carlisle.

Passengers had been waiting at affected airports in the hope of getting flights.

At Glasgow airport, Guy McKinven, from the Clyde Valley area, was attempting to travel to Stansted.

Travel plans were thrown into disarray for hundreds of passengers at Glasgow airport

He said: "you see people shouting and getting upset, but there's nothing you can do." "It is frustrating, but that's just the situation."

The cancellations come just over a year after another volcanic eruption in Iceland caused widespread disruption across Europe, including the closure of UK airspace, amid concerns about the volcanic ash could damage cause to engine aircraft.

The Grimsvotn volcano in Vatnaj?kull National Park began erupting on Saturday and closed Iceland's airspace for a period.

Experts say the eruption is on a different scale to the one last year and ash particles are larger and, as a result, fall to the ground more quickly.

Frances Tuke, from travel industry body Abta, urged passengers to contact their airlines, which he said had legal obligations to their customers.

He said passengers could have a claim under European "denied boarding" regulations.

These state that if a flight is cancelled or delayed for more than five hours, passengers are entitled to be either re-routed, given a replacement flight or a refund.

The Foreign Office is advising passengers to remain in regular contact with their travel agent or airline for the latest news on the status of flights and bookings.

Icelandic government adviser Professor Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson said the volcanic eruption was slowing down "day by day" and he believed the "worst is over".

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Thousands flee as city flashpoint seizes army of Sudan

JUBA, Sudan (AFP) - thousands of civilians were fleeing the fighting in Sudan? s disputed Abyei district Sunday, as the army admitted South Northern troops were in full possession of its main city.

"The fighting have been very, very bad," said Philip Aguer, spokesman for the South? s of the people of Sudan? s army of liberation.

Later Saturday, troops in the North of the Sudan Armed Forces took the town of Abyei, focal point of murderous tensions between North and South in the period preceding the recognition provided for the independence of the South at the end of JulySaid Aguer.

"People have fled the region, because the bombing was indiscriminate - bombs and air tanks on the ground.".

"They come in Abyei with a complete soldiers division, while we do not have a force of combat on the ground.".

Faithful to the SPLA troops have retreated in the South of the district of dispute on the border with the North, he added.

"We don?". t know now the exact location of their "said Aguer." "" People are missing. They were attacked very heavily. ?

Aguer stated that there was no planned immediate counter-attack.

"As SPLA, we cannot declare war as an army." We are waiting for the Government of southern Sudan to decide what is the next step. ?

The Organization of the United Nations called Saturday for "immediate cessation of hostilities".

Their base at Abyei were identified, with a landing within the enclosure mortar shells but it has not occurred victim, said a spokesman.

A delegation of the United Nations Security Council arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday.

Aid agency doctors without borders (MSF), which runs health clinics in the town of Abyei and 40 km (25 miles) South of Agok said in a statement that the "whole population of the town of Abyei fled the city."

Her Agok clinic had received 42 people injured by Saturday evening.

"MSF in Agok teams are waiting to meet an additional influx of wounded," the statement added, but it had also suspended work to Abyei, said. "".

Fighting in Abyei were opposite the former civil war enemies against each other since January when it was due to vote on its future alongside a referendum on independence for the South.

But the plebiscite was postponed indefinitely as the North and South disagree on who should be eligible to vote in an area where conflicting loyalties and land disputes keep high voltages.

A statement by the White House called on the armed forces of Sudan "to immediately cease all offensive operations in Abyei and to withdraw its forces."

"Failure to do so could back the process of normalization of relations between the United States and the Sudan and inhibit the ability of the international community to advance critical issues for the future of Sudan," the statement warned.