And so it begins...

From Eric Dondero:

The largely Christian southern Sudanese voted for independence in a region-wide referendum by over 90%, two months ago. The South is scheduled to become completely independent in July.

Now, as had been predicted by many international experts, nothern troops have attacked southern forces in the border region. Abiya (mid-point on demarcation line on the map) is an oil-rich town controlled by the South.

Just breaking from the BBC "North Sudan army takes control of border town Abyei":

"The SAF (Sudan Armed Forces) have entered Abyei," said Philip Aguer, spokesman for the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels. "There is still fighting but they have come with tanks, they are shooting and shooting."

He described the seizure of the town as a "complete violation of the comprehensive peace agreement, a complete violation of the ceasefire, and it is a declaration of war by Khartoum".

A UN official: "The SAF have taken the town, it is a major development."

Continuing:

The dispute over the oil-rich region is seen as a possible trigger for a new north-south civil war.

Muslim leaders in the North have been calling for an invasion of the South to prevent independence.

From the Sudan Tribune Dec. 2010:

[Clerics have] demanded imposition of Islamic Shar’iah law in the entire country whether citizens of the mainly Christian region of south Sudan like it or not.

The legitimate League of Muslim Preachers and Clerics (LLMPC), a group of radical clerics... held a press conference in which the group’s leaders declared rejection to south Sudan’s referendum on independence and called on the government to implement Shari’ah law in full.

Note - the BBC and other liberal media such as Reuters make no mention of the Islamist religious affiliation of the North Sudanese forces. A 15-paragraph story by Voice of America (taxpayer-subsidized run by the Obama adminsitration), similarly makes no mention of Islam in the article.

Photo credit - Sudan Tribune