* U.N. Sudan chief "reassured" over troop removal * Abyei border ruling due this week KHARTOUM, July 20 (Reuters) - The head of the United Nations in Sudan on Monday said he was "reassured" south Sudan's army had taken steps to remove soldiers from a contested oil area in the countdown to a divisive ruling on the territory's borders. U.N. special representative Ashraf Qazi over the weekend accused southern soldiers of straying into Abyei, a central oil- producing region claimed by both north and south Sudan. The armies of north and south Sudan had agreed to stay out of the region in the build up to a ruling on Abyei's borders, expected on Wednesday from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The south's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) angrily dismissed Qazi's accusation on Sunday, saying he had fallen for northern propaganda. The borders of Abyei were one of the most sensitive issues left undecided in a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of civil war between Sudan's Muslim north and its mostly Christian south. Efforts to settle the matter since then have failed and northern and southern troops have clashed. Both sides agreed to refer the matter to the Hague court last year and have promised to accept the court's ruling. But analysts have said there is still a risk of conflict if one of the parties feels it has been unfairly treated. Abyei has much of the ethnic tension and bitterness over perceived government neglect that fuelled fighting in Sudan's neighbouring Darfur region. Qazi told reporters on Wednesday there had been definite sightings of southern soldiers and police in Agok, a settlement close to Abyei. "We believe action has been taken to ensure the area will be clear of such elements and that is very reassuring," he said. A U.N. official told Reuters "tens" of southern soldiers and police had been seen in Agok from July 6 to 16. But U.N. monitoring patrols sent to Agok after the July 16 had not seen any SPLA soldiers or police, the source added. (Reporting by Andrew Heavens; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir waves to supporters at an event organized by the Sudanese embassy in Cairo July 17, 2009. Bashir was indicted in March by the International Criminal Court ...
