The U.N. Security Council on Thursday made a new demand that Sudan “immediately” withdraw all troops from the territory of Abyei that it disputes with South Sudan.
The 15-nation council welcomed South Sudan’s move to pull its forces from Abyei -- one of a series of disputes which has brought the two sides to the verge of all-out war.
The new call to the Khartoum government to ease tensions was made in a resolution which extended the mandate of the mainly-Ethiopian U.N. peacekeeping force in Abyei for six months.
Sudan has said it will not withdraw its troops from Abyei until a joint administration for the territory has been set up. South Sudan says its rival government is blocking the creation of the joint administration.
The Security Council resolution “welcomes the redeployment of South Sudanese military and police personnel from the Abyei area.”
It “demands the government of Sudan redeploy all remaining military and police personnel from the Abyei area immediately and without preconditions.”
The resolution also called on the two sides to “urgently finalize the establishment of the Abyei Area Administration.”
Sudan and South Sudan split in July last year and tensions have mounted since then over Abyei, their unchartered border and how to share revenues from oil reserves.
The Security Council passed a resolution on May 2 which demanded the two sides halt hostilities in two days, start peace talks in two weeks and conclude an accord on their disputes in three months.
It said it would consider sanctions if the two sides failed to keep the deadlines.
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