U.N. urges Sudan to pull out of disputed southern region after invasion, takeover

Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide but protected by the African Union and Arab League with the support of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, made clear his intentions to impose Sharia even more intensively on his territory once the south seceded. And al-Bashir has not even attempted to hoodwink the West with empty promises of "Sharia Lite," saying "Sharia law has always stipulated that one must whip, cut, or kill."
That is what is at stake for Abyei, and anything else al-Bashir sets his sights upon. "Sudan: UN urges Khartoum to pullout from Abyei region," from BBC News, May 22:

South Sudan is due to become independent in July, but Abyei is still claimed by both sides

UN Security Council envoys have urged North Sudan to "withdraw immediately" its troops from the contested Abyei region on the border with South Sudan.

The call was made by the French, Russian and US ambassadors to the UN.

South Sudan said the Abyei takeover was an act of war, saying civilians and southern soldiers were killed.

South Sudan is due to become independent in July, but Abyei's status remains to be determined after a referendum on its future was shelved.

People in the Southern capital of Juba are worried and there is a grim mood on the streets of the capital, the BBC's Peter Martell in South Sudan reports.

The North said it acted after 22 of its men were killed in a southern ambush earlier this week.

Residents flee

"The members of the Security Council call upon the government of Sudan to halt its military operation and withdraw immediately from Abyei town and its environs," the French ambassador to the UN, Gerard Araud, said in Khartoum.

"They condemn the escalatory military operation being undertaken by the Sudanese armed forces. This constitutes a serious violation of the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005)," Mr Araud said.