The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously voted to send a 4,200-strong Ethiopian peacekeeping force to the disputed Sudanese territory of Abyei. The force will monitor the withdrawal of north Sudan troops from Abyei as well as human rights in the region. Khartoum forces occupied Abyei on May 21 and more than 100,000 people have since fled the territory mainly to southern Sudan. With fighting also flaring in the neighboring state of South Kordofan, the action has heightened tensions ahead of southern Sudan\'s declaration of independence on July 9.