Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the
Abyei residents march in celebration of the Hague panel’s decision governing their oil-rich region on Sudan’s north-south border. In 2011, according to a peace accord that ended a 21-year civil war, they can opt to join the south or north. (Tim McKulka / AFP/Getty Images)
Residents of Abyei, one displaying the flag of southern Sudan, celebrate the decision of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration resolving the north-south boundary dispute that erupted into violence last year when government forces and former southern rebels clashed in Abyei. (Tim McKulka / Associated Press)