A southern minister in Sudan’s govt quit office on Tuesday alleging “war crimes” in Abyei, as the UN called for talks after northern troops seized the flashpoint border district.
Luka Biong Deng, a minister of cabinet affairs, resigned after Khartoum declared Abyei a “northern town” and dismissed international calls to pull its troops out of the district also claimed by the soon-to-be independent south.
“We had hoped that we could form two viable states in good relationship with each other, but those in Khartoum do not seem interested in peace,” said Biong Deng, who hails from the Abyei area and is a senior leader in the south’s ruling party.
