afrol News, 20 October - United Nations head of peacekeeping mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has handed over a satellite imagery system to help speed up peace settlement in war torn country.

Equipment will enable team tasked with producing a border map with comprehensive data, a task seen as one of key elements of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended long-running north-south civil war in the vast African nation.

Over the weekend, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi presented equipment, said to be worth $600,000, to Ad hoc Technical Border Committee - whose 18 members are drawn from both parties to peace.

Reports said it was explained that equipment will be used to create map to delineate the 1 January 1956 border, one of major benchmarks of CPA. Next month, a final report, including the map, will be presented to residency and once it is endorsed, Committee will be expected to proceed with demarcation on the ground.

Mr Qazi, who also serves as Secretary-General's Special Representative, congratulated Committee, established in 2005, on its vital work and underscored readiness of UNMIS to assist its work.

Abdallah El Sadig Ali, border team's chairman, was also reported to have called UN's delivery of the satellite imagery system historic.

Since February 2003 some 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels rose up against Khartoum. Sudan has however given a figure of 10,000 people that have been killed by the war.

The war began when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Arab-dominated Khartoum regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories