Sudan's Bashir says Abyei belongs to north

KHARTOUM | Tue May 24, 2011 3:54pm EDT

KHARTOUM May 24 (Reuters) - North Sudan will not withdraw from the disputed Abyei border region it seized over the weekend as the area belongs to the north, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Tuesday.

"Abyei is northern Sudanese land," Bashir said in a speech in the capital Khartoum. "We will not withdraw from it."

He added he had given the green light to the northern army to respond to any possible "provocation" by the army of south Sudan which plans to become independent on July 9.

(Reporting by Khaled Abdelaziz, writing by Ulf Laessing, editing by Andrew Heavens)
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