Sudan’s First Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh has announced plans by his government to support development projects and peace efforts in the contested Abyei Area.
This announcement came after a meeting with the co-chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC) Hassan Ali Nemir.
In a press statement to the Sudan News Agency (SUNA), Nemir explained that he briefed the vice president on the outcomes of a visit by the AJOC committee to the area recently. On its recent visit Nemir’s delegation entered into northern Abyei but not into the Dinka-inhabited parts of southern Abyei.
Nemir pointed out that the vice president directed the committee to carry out frequent field visits to the Abyei Area in order to identify citizens’ needs in terms of service provision. Bakri said the Abyei issue is one of the strategic issues directly supervised by the national government.
According to Nemir, who is also a Misseriya tribal leader, he also held recent meetings with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).