May 4, 2013 (JUBA)- Kuol Deng Kuol, the paramount chief of the Nine Ngok Dinka of the disputed border region of Abyei has been killed, officials here said today.
FILE - United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) troops in Abyei (REUTERS/Tim McKulka/UNMIS Handout)
Edward Lino, the Co-Chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee (AJOC), representing South Sudan said that chief Kuol, among others, were shot dead in an ambush by members of the rival Arabs nomads of Misseriya in a convoy belonging to United Nations on their way back to Abyei town from a visit north of the area.
“The paramount chief Kuol Deng Kuol known as Kuol Adol in the area has been killed today in Abyei by the members of the Misseriya. He was part of my team which went to Abyei yesterday to hold a meeting with Sudanese delegation and after the meeting they visited Kej (Difra)" Lino told Sudan Tribune.
"You know Kej which they call Difra, literally meaning push away which clearly tells you that the area was inhibited by some people who are being pushed away, is where the oil is produced in Abyei which the government of Sudan is exploiting”, Lino added.
"As part of my team he went together with Sudanese delegation and they toured the area after talks, then the Sudanese delegation left to Muglad after concluding the visit and our team started returning to Abyei but they fell into an ambush on their way by members of the Misseriya who asked UNISFA force to surrender them. They started negotiating for release. This happened at around 1:00PM to 2:00PM when they were stopped and the negotiations went on until 6:00PM when they finally opened fire on the convoy and the chief was killed with others", the South Sudanese official explained.
He said the team had Deng Mading Mijak who is his deputy and Maguith Deng who is a senior member of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee and the late paramount Chief Kuol Deng Kuol. There were also other members from the area who were being escorted by the force of the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA). They were together with Force Commander and his team.
Juac Agok, the deputy Chairperson of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the area also confirmed the incident, describing the killing as what the international community had wanted to happen first in the area before they could begin to take seriously what they warned about Khartoum seeking to sabotage conduct of the referendum in the area.
“They have killed the chief. Our paramount chief has now been confirmed dead. There are also some people but i do not how many. I have heard of three people but it could be more because they were in a convoy. I think this was what the international community had wanted to hear first. The international community never showed any interest in resolving the conflict of Abyei. They wanted the people of Abyei to be wiped out as this is the policy of the government of Sudan" Agok said.
"We have been saying that the government of Sudan did not withdraw forces in Abyei and it is openly arming Misseriya tribes. The international community is always quick to condemn and put pressure on the government of South Sudan but does nothing when Sudan violates and defies directives of the African Union and Security Council of the United Nations”, the emotionally charged official told Sudan Tribune Saturday.
South Sudan’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Deng Alor Kuol. who is also from the area and is a relative of the deceased paramount chief, said his government will hold the government of Sudan responsible for the killing because the incident shows that Khartoum armed the Misseriya members and sent them to the area “to carry out terrorist-like activities”.
“It is with deep regret that I inform you of the death of our paramount chief Kuol Adol. He was killed this evening in an ambush by Misseriya. The government of Sudan will definitely pay for his death and those who have died with him. This is clear act of terrorism and Khartoum must not be allowed to get away with it like other atrocities it had committed in the area before”, Alor told weeping family members who gathered in his house after learning the incident on Saturday.
South Sudan’s Inspector General of Police, Pieng Deng Kuol, said “armed activities of the government of Sudan in the area were no longer bearable” before collapsing, indicating the level of anger generated by the incident within the community.
Kuol Deng, a senior civil servant in the Abyei said the killing of the paramount chief of the area was an organised plan by the government of Sudan because it happened after its delegation left.
“There should be no guesswork as to who is behind this incident. The killing of our chief and those who have died with him today was an organised plan. The government of Sudan knows it. You can see that it happened just after the Sudanese delegation left the area. The delegation knew it well. They know even the time the plan would be carried out. This is clear terrorist work”, Deng told Sudan Tribune.
The United Nations Interim Force for Abyei did not respond to a call by the Sudan Tribune on Saturday and there was no immediate official release by the government South Sudan
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