May 28, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti notified the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon via letter of his government's request that the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) end as planned on July 9, 2011, The foreign ministry spokesperson Khalid Moussa said the letter to Ban expressed Sudan's appreciation of the efforts made by UNMIS in assisting the parties in implementing the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) since its establishment pursuant to resolution UN Security Council (UNSC) 1590. He also said that Karti stressed that Sudan has provided maximum possible cooperation and fulfilled its obligations towards the CPA. UNMIS was established in 2005 to ensure that northern and southern Sudan comply with the peace agreement they signed in the same year that ended two decades of civil war. The South Sudan referendum, which is the final phase of the CPA, was held peacefully last January and resulted in an overwhelming vote in favor of independence. However, issues such as the dispute over the oil-rich border region of Abyei and the lack of progress on North-South border demarcation are raising fears of possible military confrontation after July 9th. Last week the Sudanese army entered Abyei and asserted control over it pushing Southern forces out. Thousands of its residents were forced to flee amid widespread burning and looting in the area. This week the UN Secretary General proposed a new peacekeeping force of some 7,000 blue-helmeted troops for south Sudan once it secedes. Diplomats and U.N. officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Khartoum does not want UNMIS to leave Sudan altogether though the Sudanese government would prefer that it be less visible in Khartoum. Ban's report said the new force should be called the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS. via Sudan Tribune
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