By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, June 20 -- As Thabo Mbeki briefed the UN Security Council about Abyei in Sudan on Monday morning, he mentioned that the mandate of the Ethiopian troops to replace Sudan's forces is still being worked on.
Sources close to the negotiations tell Inner City Press that Ethiopia has said it will not be as “passive” as the UN peacekeepers have been. “Look at the UN blue helmets,” a source told Inner City Press. “They let people just take their guns away. Is that a military force?”
Most recently the UN forces in Southern Kordofan are reported to have allowed heavy artillery and anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns to be taken from them.
But others harken back to when Ethiopia went into Somalia in 2006, blasting away until it reached Mogadishu. Is this the solution the UN and Security Council members want in Abyei?
Mbeki said he'd met with Southern Kordofan SPLA leader Al Hilu. As Inner City Press reported last week, Al Hilu through his spokesman accused the UN peacekeepers in Kadugli of rape. After first delaying, the UN subsequently denied the charges, saying that no evidence had come forward.
But as Kordofan sources point out, Hilu is on the run from the forces of Khartoum. Top UN peacekeepers Alain Le Roy on June 16 told Inner City Press he hadn't spoken to Al Hilu, then said seeming uncertain that the Mission (UNMIS) had spoken with Al Hilu about the charges. But had they? Watch this site.
