UN hails withdrawal of Sudan troops from Abyei

The United Nations Security Council has welcomed the withdrawal of military forces of Sudan and South Sudan from the disputed Abyei area, encouraging both parties to "keep momentum toward meeting all outstanding obligations" under relevant UN resolution. "Members of Council welcomed the withdrawal of military of Sudan and South Sudan from the Abyei area," the 15-nation council said in a press statement issued here. Tensions soared in the Abyei area when South Sudan army ambushed a convoy of the Sudanese army and the United Nations peacekeepers in May 2011, resulting in the death of 22 Sudanese soldiers. South Sudan became independent from Sudan in July last year, six years after the signing of a peace agreement that ended decades of warfare between the north and south. However, peace between the two countries has been threatened by clashes along their common border and outstanding post-independence issues including the ownership of the Abyei area that straddles the two countries.