A little more than a year has passed since the assassination of the former Ngok Dinka Paramount Chief Kuol Deng Kuol on 4 May 2013, by a Missiriya man involved in a standoff with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) convoy carrying the chief. His death destroyed already fragile ties between the two communities, and contributed to an ongoing impasse in political negotiations over Abyei’s future. The attention of the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS) is currently focused on internal conflicts, and a 4 April meeting between Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and South Sudanese president Salva Kiir saw no progress in negotiations on Abyei’s political future. On the ground, April saw a reduction in clashes between the Missiriya and the Ngok Dinka, but the situation remains extremely tense, and the joint local administration mandated by the 20 June 2011 Addis Ababa agreement has still not been established.
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