Reuters/UNTV soundbite:
UN Ambasssador Susan Rice: "I wanted to share with you that the United States has just tabled this morning a draft resolution to establish the interim security force for Abyei, as requested by the government of Sudan and the government of South Sudan, consistent with the interim security agreement that was reached between the parties on Monday is Addis Ababa. The council will begin consultations on this draft resolution which reflects the mandate proposed to the council as agreed by the two parties and that calls for the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian National Defense Force personnel under the United Nations flag and we are looking forward to discussions with council members in order to swiftly adopt a resolution authorizing this new interim security force for Abyei so that the agreement that the parties have reached, which is obviously fragile, can be implemented immediately and effectively. In addition, as we have been saying in the Security Council and in many other venues during the course of the last couple of weeks, we're gravely concerned about the humanitarian situation in southern Kordofan. The fighting that has transpired there in particular. We're deeply concerned about attacks on, and threats to, and the intimidation of U.N. personnel, obstructions to the freedom of movement and access for humanitarian goods, allegations and indeed verified reports of aerial bombardment and other attacks against civilian personnel. This too, remains a subject of discussion within the council and attention, but we wanted in particular to move forward in establishing the interim security force for Abyei so that very important agreement can be implemented." Full Text»
