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| Sudan clashes prompt UN pull-out | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The UN has withdrawn non-essential staff from Sudan's town of Abyei after a day of clashes between government forces and southern former rebels. | |
| UN spokesman Khaled Mansour told the BBC two soldiers had died on each side. Three years after the signing of a peace deal, an administration is yet to be set up in the oil-rich region which is claimed by both north and south. | |
| Mr Mansour said if an interim administration was not set up it could jeopardise the whole peace deal. | Mr Mansour said if an interim administration was not set up it could jeopardise the whole peace deal. |
| The two decade north-south civil war is said to have cost the lives of 1.5 million people. | The two decade north-south civil war is said to have cost the lives of 1.5 million people. |
| "This is indeed one of the most serious issues facing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between south and north," Mr Mansour told the BBC's Network Africa programme. | "This is indeed one of the most serious issues facing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between south and north," Mr Mansour told the BBC's Network Africa programme. |
| He said because of the dispute the town lacked even the most basic services which made the area a "tinderbox". | He said because of the dispute the town lacked even the most basic services which made the area a "tinderbox". |
| As part of the 2005 peace deal, the south is due to vote in 2011 on whether or not to seek independence from the north. | As part of the 2005 peace deal, the south is due to vote in 2011 on whether or not to seek independence from the north. |
| "Everybody's talking about it in the media as a rich oil-rich town, but it's a very poor town and that's why people are on edge." | "Everybody's talking about it in the media as a rich oil-rich town, but it's a very poor town and that's why people are on edge." |
| Deng Kual Deng, a resident of the town, told the BBC that the market area had been hit by mortar fire, but that there had been a lull in fighting overnight. | Deng Kual Deng, a resident of the town, told the BBC that the market area had been hit by mortar fire, but that there had been a lull in fighting overnight. |