Sudan moves closer to war

SUDAN'S president gave northern troops a "green light" to attack southern forces if provoked, while gunmen from an Arab tribe fired on four United Nations helicopters taking off from a disputed border town at the heart of a new north-south conflict, officials said last night.

Both Sudan's north and south claim Abyei, a fertile region located near several oil fields.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the area over the last week.

Northern tanks and soldiers rolled into the disputed region on Saturday following the attack on a northern army convoy last Thursday, raising fears of a return to civil war in Africa's largest nation.