Background
Abel Auer was born in 1933, a Protestant Dinka tribesman in the Bor district of the Upper Nile Province.
Abel Auer was born in 1933, a Protestant Dinka tribesman in the Bor district of the Upper Nile Province.
Educated locally at Bor then went to Khartoum University where he graduated Bachelor of Laws with Honours in 1959.
From 1961 to 1962 he did research on land law at London University’s School of Advanced Legal Studies. After two years in the United States he gained his Master’s degree in law at Yale University.
In 1964 he became a district judge, travelling to El Obeid and Wad Medani, but he resigned in 1965 to take part in the Round Table Conference on the southern question as an active member of the Southern Front from its formation in October 1964. He was chosen to serve on the constitutional commissions of 1966 and 1968. At the 1968 elections he was returned to the National Assembly for Bor.
After the May 25, 1969 revolution, President Nimeri appointed him to the first cabinet as Minister of Housing. He was transferred to Supply and Internal Trade in October 1969. In the reshuffle of July 1970 he became Minister of Public Works. He was appointed Vice-President and Minister of Southern Affairs in July 1971. He led the Khartoum team of seven to Addis Ababa for negotiations with the Southern Sudanese which resulted in large measure from his moderation and skill in the agreement of February 27, 1972.
Lawyer and judge from the South whose understanding of Southern problems and experience of cabinet responsibilities made him the natural choice to negotiate peace with the South and take charge of the pacification and unification process afterwards. With a distinguished academic record in the Sudan, Britain and the United States he proved he had the breadth of knowledge and patience to tackle the difficult problems of restoring stability to the South. A single-minded man, not overambitious but eager to prove his talents as an architect of unity.