Sudan's Abyei 'ablaze' after capture by North

Sudan's disputed border town of Abyei is ablaze, with gunmen looting properties days after troops from the government in Khartoum entered the area, UN peacekeepers say.

The peacekeepers belonging to UNMIS, the UN mission in Sudan, said on Monday that the burning and looting was perpetrated "by armed elements" but it was not clear whether they were from the north or the south.

Omar-al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, said a "peaceful resolution" for Abyei would be found.

"We are efforting to solve the remaining issues and remove tensions in Abyei," he said in a speech.

The developments in Abyei drew strong reaction from the US, with its special envoy to the country saying Washington would rule out dropping Sudan from a terrorism list if it continued occupying the oil-rich district.

Princeton Lyman said the "occupation" of Abyei by northern troops is "an extremely disproportionate response by the government of Sudan" to an attack on a UN convoy escorting the troops last week.

Envoy 'optimistic'

But Lyman added that there was still hope of the two sides resolving the crisis.

"I am optimistic in this sense: These two entities - Sudan and soon-to-be independent South Sudan - need each other," he told Al Jazeera.

"They have to collaborate for their own good, and while we're now facing a major crisis in Abyei, we're hopeful that the leadership, particularly president al-Bashir [in the north] and vice-president Kiir [in the south] will re-establish the spirit that they talked about ... "

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