Police killed in Abyei during south Sudan referendum

10 January 2011 Last updated at 13:11 ET
People have been queuing for hours to vote in Juba on the second day of the landmark poll
Clashes in Sudan's disputed oil-rich Abyei region have killed at least 30 people including police, reports say.
Abyei has long been seen as a potential flashpoint for renewed north-south violence as it lies on the border and is claimed by both sides.
One report said 20 policemen had been killed, but this was not confirmed.
Reports of the violence come on the second day of voting in Southern Sudan's referendum on independence.
The vote was part of a 2005 peace deal which ended decades of civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the south, where most people are Christian or follow traditional religions.
Abyei was due to hold a separate referendum on whether to join north or south Sudan but this has been postponed indefinitely because of disagreements over eligibility.
Col Philip Aguer, a Southern Sudan military spokesman, said that the Misseriya - an Arab group who move their cattle through Abyei - attacked a village on Sunday with anti-tank weapons and artillery.
Continue reading the main story "If they continue to stop us going south, this fighting will continue”
Mokhtar Babo Nimr Misseriya leader Sudanese voters: Your storiesIn pictures: South Sudan cattle camps Press warns of challenges
He said the Misseriya were joined by fighters from the Popular Defence Forces, a militia backed by Khartoum but whose existence was banned under the 2005 peace agreement.
Col Aguer said 20 policemen serving with Abyei's joint integrated police force were killed and another 30 wounded.
Reports said clashes in the area had taken place over three days.
However, Misseriya leader Bashtal Mohammed Salem told AP news agency that 10 Misseriya herders were killed in attacks by police on Sunday.
"They want to keep us out of the area and declare independence unilaterally," he said.
The semi-nomadic Misseryia, viewed as allies of the north, say they want to vote in any referendum in Abyei, but the Dinka Ngok, seen as loyal to the south, say that would contravene the peace deal.
Analysts say the disputed area is the most likely flashpoint for north-south tensions to turn violent during the referendum.
Voting continues

The BBC's Will Ross in Southern Sudan said turnout on the second day of voting was not as heavy as on the first day of the week-long vote, but voters seemed just as determined.
Continue reading the main story AnalysisDouglas Johnson Academic on Sudan interviewed on the BBC
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Abyei is very strategically located: It straddles the border; it's right on top of some very important waterways that cattle-keepers from both the north and the south use at different times of year; it's also right on top of one of Sudan's oil fields and this is why it is contested both by the people who live in and around the area and by the governments in Khartoum and Juba.
President Omar al-Bashir, who said he would accept the result of the referendum in the south, has reiterated that Abyei will never be allowed to go to the south despite the fact there's supposed to be a referendum.
And the [recent] reports, that have been confirmed by the UN, about attacks on police posts in Abyei carried out by people on motorcycles suggest this is not just a matter of cattle-keepers with Kalashnikovs to protect their herds.
It does suggest that there is a residual militia activity of people armed and supported by the government in the past - whether they're being directed by the government right now, we don't know.
Douglas Johnson on BBC Network Africa
Our correspondent, with voters in the southern village of Kotobi, says some in the queues said they were voting for friends and relatives killed by war.
The north has promised the south it will not block its plans to secede if that is the result of the vote, as widely expected.
Our correspondent says he has not yet met anyone who says they will vote for unity.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has said he will respect the outcome, but warned that an independent south would face instability.
For the referendum to be valid, at least 60% of the 3.8 million registered voters must take part.
The dispute between the Misseriya and the Dinka Ngok began over grazing rights for cattle, which are central to both communities' traditions and economies.
The run-up to the vote in the south was also marred by clashes between the south Sudanese military and rebels in the oil-rich Unity state.
Southern Sudan is one of the least developed areas in the world and many of its people have long complained of mistreatment at the hands of the Khartoum government.
'New chapter'

South Sudanese leader Salva Kiir, casting his ballot on Sunday, urged people to "be patient", in case they were not able to vote on the first day of polling.
Continue reading the main story At the scene Peter Martell BBC News, Rumbek
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Turnout has been high in Rumbek, the thatch-hut capital of Lakes state.
Some of those turned away because of long queues on the first day returned the next carrying plastic seats, determined to cast their ballots.
Support for separation is overwhelming - during the civil war this dusty town was the southern rebels' capital.
But it is also the heart of cattle-herding county, and many herders have moved long distances with their cattle in search of fresh grazing and water since they registered in November.
Now they are moving back to the same centre to vote. One man had cycled two days to vote on Monday. Some of those travelling from the cattle camps had arranged for relatives to look after their cattle before rushing back and swapping so that others could travel to vote.
The international community is watching the vote closely and US President Barack Obama said it represented a "new chapter in history".
The action of Sudanese leaders would help determine whether their people move "toward peace and prosperity, or slide backward into bloodshed", he said in a statement.
Last week Mr Bashir said he understood why many southerners wanted independence, but he expressed concern at how the new nation would cope.
He said southerners living in the north would not be allowed dual citizenship, and floated the idea of the two nations joining in an EU-style bloc.
The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says northern politicians have sent very mixed messages about the future status of southerners in the north.
One minister said sick people would not even be allowed a needle in a hospital, he says.
In poor suburbs all around Khartoum - an area known as the Black Belt - southerners have been packing up to leave. Some 120,000 southerners have already gone back to their ancestral homes in recent weeks, he says.
The official result of the referendum is not due to be announced for at least four weeks, partly because of the logistical difficulties gathering the ballot papers from across a region the size of Spain and Portugal that has few paved roads.