"The town of Abyei has ceased to exist. Brigade 31 of the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, has displaced the entire civilian population and burned Abyei's market and housing to the ground. These events were predicted, and absent effective word and action, they became inevitable. [but] as this report goes to the press, the United States has not even made a public statement regarding the violence Khartoum instigated in Abyei." - Roger Winter
Roger Winter visited the oil-rich area Abyei, on the disputed boundary between North and South Sudan, from May 16-17. This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains his report issued today by the Enough Project. Previous reports by Roger Winter on Abyei, and its critical role in having the potential to ignite even greater violence in Sudan, can be found at http://www.enoughproject.org/reports/soundingalarmabyei (April 2008) and http://www.enoughproject.org/abyei (January, 2008).
Notable among the points stressed by Winter is that the Bush administration, despite previous rhetoric for peace and in opposition to violence in Sudan, continues to be engaged in a process of "normalization" with the current Sudanese government, In contrast to strong public statements about Darfur, U.S. policy towards Sudan has also been driven by continued interest in cooperation with Khartoum against "international terrorism." For analysis of the background to this policy contradiction, see "Sudan: Walking Loudly, Carrying a Toothpick" (http://www.africafocus.org/docs07/sud0704b.php) and "Sudan: Why Doesn't Bush Act on Darfur?" (http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/sud0612b.php)
