No peace meetings have been held since the second Misseriya Arab - Ngok Dinka peace conference held in Noong a month ago while the joint market at Amiet remains closed.

Abyei Today newsletter reports that meetings were scheduled but they did not take place because of insecurity. The market itself has been closed since the recent attacks on Amiet Market that left two traders from Dinka side dead and two others injured.

Despite the attacks, the chairman of the peace committee from the Ngok Dinka, Chief Nyol Paguot said they are ready to sit again with the Misseriya to discuss peace issues but he says that UNISFA has blocked them from going to the villages north of Abyei town and were trying to deter people away from these villages.

But UNISFA spokesperson Daniel Adekera said they had not sent anyone away from those villages but “they have been advised [to move] and we expect them to heed that advice in the interest of their own security.”

About the peace talks, Daniel added that Amiet market will reopen and the peace committee will meet soon after they have put some security measures in place. He also called on Ngok Dinka and the Messeriya to monitor the activities of their own people in the market in order to prevent future “bad” incidents