Northerners who fought for the SPLM rebels will be integrated into the national army or demobilised Friday, July 1, 2011
Sudan pro-south rebels to disarm
Northerners who fought for the SPLM rebels will be integrated into the national army or demobilised Tens of thousands of northern Sudanese who fought for southern rebels during the north-south civil war are to be disarmed as part of a new deal.
The agreement, mediated by the African Union, concerns the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The document stresses any disarmament will be conducted without force.
An attempted disarmament seems to have been the trigger for the recent fierce fighting in South Kordofan, says a BBC reporter.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced because of violence in the state, which has included aerial bombardments.
Khartoum has come under heavy criticism for what activists have called "ethnic cleansing" in the area.
The framework agreement, signed in Ethiopia, stipulates that the northerners from South Kordofan and Blue Nile who fought for Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) rebels during the 21-year civil war will be integrated into the national army, or demobilised.
The position of the northern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile has been fragile ever since the end of the war in 2005, says the BBC's James Copnall in the capital, Khartoum.
The deal commits the Sudanese government and the SPLM North to working out the terms for a ceasefire.
In addition, joint political and security committees are to be formed, our reporter says.
The recent clashes in South Kordofan were between the rebels from the Nuba mountains and the north's armed forces.
Many of the ethnic Nuba who fought on the side of the southern army largely voted against the north's governing party in recent state elections.
On Tuesday, representatives of the Nuba asked the mainly Egyptian UN peacekeepers in South Kordofan to leave the area.
Members of the Nuba Mountains-South Kordofan Women and Children Group demonstrated in front of the UN compound in Kauda village, accusing the UN force of siding with Khartoum in the recent violence.
The fighting broke out after pro-southern groups were ordered to disarm after Ahmed Haroun was declared the winner of recent governorship elections in the state.
Dozens of Nuba women and children demonstrated outside the UN compound on Tuesday Mr Haroun is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.
During the weekend, he said the situation in South Kordofan was now safe and people had started to return to their homes.
But rights group Amnesty International said those who fled were being forced to go home despite continuing violence.
"Ordering families to return to a highly dangerous region where bombings continue is senseless," said Amnesty International UK's Tim Hancock.
There were reports of freshly laid landmines around Kadugli town and concern that humanitarian agencies are being prevented from accessing many areas, he said in a statement.
This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-13952553
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