(Since 2010, the South has wisely refurbished this tank.)

Just when it appeared that South Sudan would peacefully emerge as a new nation on July 9, the North Sudan government invaded the disputed Abyei area of South Kordofan State. This area is both fertile and oil-rich. The North's pre-emptive strike was taken when the US has been distracted by the Arab Spring, particularly Libya, and when the UN peace mandate was set to run out on July 9, leaving the better-equipped Sudanese Armed Forces of the North almost unchallenged in their aggression.

The North has stated that it wants all Southern Sudanese to leave the North. Southern sympathisers in South Kordofan state, which is in North Sudan, have recently suffered heavy aerial bombardment and artillery fire to drive these black Sudanese into the Nubia Mountains. Unless the Africa Union or the USA intervene, the North will once again pillage and usurp the resources of South, kill black civilians found in the North and flaunt world opinion. Northern President Bashir is already wanted for war crimes in Darfur, by the Hague. The South is relying upon world opinion to protect them from the T-55 tanks of the North, not willing to be enticed into a new civil war, undoing the due process they have followed toward nationhood since 2005's Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The North seems to be restrained only by what it is either rewarded to do or forced to do with regard to Darfur and South Sudan. Its commitments are otherwise unreliable.

Please pray for justice, peace and equitable sharing of oil resources by the North and South, and for military intervention against the North, if all else fails, as advocated by former US Envoy to Sudan, Roger Winter. Below are links to articles on this unfolding crisis, beginning May 22, 2011.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF--Northern army) take Abyei town , May 22, 2011.

The SAF and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA--Southern army) fight in South Kordofan, (source: Reuters - June 7, 2011)

"Ethnic cleansing" of the Nuba tribe by North Sudan from South Kordofan, June 11, 2011

"Agreement" at Addis Abbaba to withdraw troops from Abyei, June 14, 2011

The Deputy President of South Sudan calls upon the UN to intervene, June 15, 2011

Statement of President Obama on the situation, June 15, 2011

Insightful expert comments in addition to President Obama's, June 15, 2011

The Nuba aggression displaced 60,000 people, June 16, 2011

Former US Envoy to Sudan, Roger Winter, calls for military intervention against the North, June 16, 2011.

Ceasefire announced in South Kordofan, June 16, 2011.

The UN authorized 4,200 Ethiopian peacekeepers to protect Abyei, June 27, 2011

North-South Buffer Zone established, together with talks to resolve outstanding issues, June 28, 2011

The Satellite Sentinel Project tracks movements of the North's military and its actions. It clearly documents Northern aggression.