Sudan deal to end Abyei clashes

Khartoum, 14 Jan – (ANA) - Two rival ethnic groups involved in deadly clashes in Sudan's disputed oil-rich Abyei region have signed a deal to end the violence.

The hostilities had threatened to overshadow the referendum on independence for the south.

The week-long vote is now in its sixth day and has passed the 60% threshold needed to validate the ballot.

The rivals in Abyei, which lies on the north-south border, agreed to pay blood money for those killed in fighting.

The Dinka Ngok think it belongs in the south, while the nomadic Arab Misseriya see it as northern.

The heart of their dispute is about grazing rights for cattle, which are central to both communities' traditions and economies.

More than 30 people died in clashes between the Misseriya and Dinka which began in Friday in northern Abyei.

There was also an attack near Abyei on one of the many convoys of south Sudanese civilians returning home, blamed by southern officials on the Misseriya. (ANA)

FA/ANA/14 January 2011---------