International briefs: North Sudan

NORTHERN and southern Sudanese representatives met yesterday to try to defuse tensions over the disputed Abyei region, just six weeks before the south is set to secede.

Northern Sudanese armed forces seized the disputed Abyei region last week, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee and raising fears the north and south could return to full-blown conflict. The move drew sharp international criticism.

Abyei was a major battleground in Sudan's last civil war and has symbolic importance for both sides. The region is used all year round by the south-linked Dinka Ngok people and for part of the year by northern Arab Misseriya nomads.

The status of the fertile region, which produces some oil, has remained one of the most contentious issues in the run up to the split on 9 July.