By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, May 15 -- There are pending with the UN many unanswered questions about Abyei from Inner City Press. But at Wednesday's noon briefing Inner City Press asked if the UN's Sudanese national staff had been relocated to Kadugli, and later in the afternoon this came in:
Subject: Your question on UNISFA
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, May 15, 2013 at 2:56 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, May 15, 2013 at 2:56 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Regarding your question today on Abyei, the UN Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) has provided the following information:
On 8 May, UNISFA relocated 126 Sudanese national staff, including those working in UN agencies, to its logistics base at Kadugli. UNISFA will review the security situation before any decision is made about bringing the staff back to the Mission area.
That answer is appreciated. Here now some previous answers, and further Press questions raised:
UN: "The UN mission in the area will begin an investigation into the attack as soon as the security situation allows."
Press: The security situation is likely to get worse because of he Referendum is set for October, with voter registration in June. Misseriya strategy is to prevent the referendum form transferring Abyei to South Sudan.
May is the start of the rainy season. Misseriya pastoralists move north - and the militias have in the past (2008 and 2011) entered and destroyed Abyei town and expelled Dinka civilians.
There are many aspects of an investigation that can be started in the meantime. Taking witness statements, identifying perpetrators, filing and storing evidence, etc.
UNISFA has 11 police specialists who could help with the investigation preliminaries. Extra personnel could be drafted in through South Sudan in the light of the recent travel announcement. Ban Ki-moon noted drily in the March 2013 report that "The visa application for the Ghanaian Senior Police Adviser has been pending since April 2012".
Inner City Press has asked if that is still the case; so far no answer. Thanks, Ladsous and DPKO. More soon. Watch this site.
