The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement regarding the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the dispute over the Abyei region in Sudan, to be delivered on July 22, 2009, in The Hague:
“The status of the Abyei region has become one of the stumbling blocks to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in 2005. With the Permanent Court of Arbitration about to deliver its decision, Canada calls on both parties to the Agreement to fully respect and implement the decision and to urge their supporters in Abyei to abide by it, in order to mitigate any risk of violence.
“Canada remains committed to working with members of the international community to establish a just and lasting peace throughout Sudan.”
For more information on Canada’s engagement in Sudan, please visit www.canadainternational.gc.ca/sudan-soudan/index.aspx?lang=eng.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Natalie Sarafian
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
