The International Organisation for Migration has said it cannot meet the deadline set by Sudan’s White Nile State to help relocate up to 15,000 South Sudanese.

ARMED men burned and looted the flashpoint town of Abyei yesterday, as Southern Sudan’s military said the northern army is moving to carry out a “full-scale war” in the region.

Two rebel groups clashed with Southern Sudan’s military ahead of the region’s independence referendum, resulting in at least nine deaths, and a top security chief said today that he suspected the groups were trying to depress voter turnout.