U.N. Pulls Staff from Sudanese City

Source: The New York Times

NAIROBI, Kenya — The United Nations has begun pulling its nonessential staff from the restive Sudanese state of Southern Kordofan, even as it sends more peacekeepers there to try to protect civilians, officials said Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, met with his southern counterpart, Salva Kiir, in Ethiopia, alongside Ethiopia’s president and Thabo Mbeki, the former president of South Africa, to begin talks aimed at resolving the border dispute.

Heavy fighting erupted in Kadugli, the capital of Southern Kordofan, a week ago, one of two border areas where the northern Sudanese government has deployed troops in recent weeks ahead of a planned split of north and south into separate countries next month.

Humanitarian officials said Sunday that the situation in Kadugli was deteriorating.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/world/africa/13sudan.html