Women Aim to Protect Their Rights in a Young State

By Amanda Wilson

WASHINGTON, Dec 15, 2011 (IPS) - As South Sudan maps out its economic future at the South Sudan International Engagement Conference (IEC) this week in Washington, women from the new country called on donors to invest in projects that ensure women benefit equally from development plans.

Pointing out that women played a critical role in the referendum that made South Sudan an independent country in July - 52 percent of voters in that referendum were female – South Sudanese women pushed for measures that would help secure a strong female presence in sectors including government, agriculture and the economy.

The IEC, organized by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), brought together government leaders from South Sudan with a group of rich states, foreign aid groups and private investors to develop a South Sudan Development Plan, a blueprint for the young state's social, economic and political policies.

Groups included the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank, the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the Corporate Council on Africa and InterAction. Officials from the United Kingdom, Norway and Turkey were also present.

The conference, which concludes today, is taking place amid continuing violence in the still-contested border states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

North Sudan charges that the Sudan People's Liberation Army is supplying rebels in the two states with weapons while international human rights groups claim that the North is indiscriminately bombing civilian populations in the two states and denying humanitarian relief agencies access to the region.

As the IEC continued in Washington, South Sudanese women delegates urged those present to acknowledge the role women play in peace building and their right to a seat at the table in planning the country's future.

The women recommended ensuring that 25 percent of all investments in agriculture and commercial livestock go to women, thereby "increasing their food productivity, their entrepreneurship, and access to markets." The large majority of farmers in South Sudan are small women farmers, and war has left South Sudan with a large number of female-headed households.

"We want aid to target women specifically," said Sarah James, a women's rights activist and chairperson for the South Sudan Women General Association. "We can't assume that it will reach them."

James, speaking to a large crowd of investors and foreign development aid donors gathered on the first day of the conference, urged them to consider women as equal partners in sustainable peace and development in the country.

The Institute for Inclusive Security, together with U.N. Women, hosted a gender symposium preceding the IEC where the women sketched out their recommendations. The symposium marked an effort to facilitate South Sudanese women's access to decision-making about the future of the new country.

The effort is significant because according to the Institute, post conflict recovery and private sector development in other countries where wars have ended have "most often returned power and economic opportunities to male elites".

The women's recommendations include a plan to double women's literacy from 12 percent to 25 percent as well as earmarks to ensure half of the oil revenues allocated to communities through community development funds go to women's health, economic and physical security.

Also proposed was a plan for a women's bank with start-up capital of 10 million dollars to provide women with accessible, low interest loans for their own business ventures.

"People are bringing home the experiences they got in other countries during their displacement," said Mary Kojo, who herself was displaced for a time in Khartoum. She currently works with the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare and has worked to build women's small-scale businesses.

Women are well-qualified to work in every sector of South Sudan's development, she pointed out. "We have the capacity. It's only that we are not being given the opportunity," Kojo told IPS. "That's why we are here – we want our voice wherever men have a voice."

The list of South Sudanese women's priorities includes basic services, better schools and better hospitals. With one out of seven pregnant women dying due to pregnancy-related causes in South Sudan, according to the U.N., the room for improvement is significant.

Women delegates also said small loans for South Sudanese women could help increase female farmers' participation at food and vegetable markets, a sector where women from the neighboring countries of Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda currently dominate because of their access to start-up capital, the women told IPS.

The women also urged the government to continue to implement the 25 percent quota currently in place for women at all levels of government.

This conference is the first of its kind, known in the aid world as a "donor conference", to include women from civil society in all sessions, including planning sessions for the management of oil revenues, social service delivery, governance and environment.

Anne Marie Goetz, chief of the peace and security program at U.N. Women, said including women in development planning makes sense, not only from a rights standpoint, but also economically. The agricultural sector is just one example.

"Investing in women's agricultural production is a way of ensuring rural market development and community stability because women invest in their communities," Goetz said. She said statistics show that women invest 90 percent of their income on family well-being compared to the 40 percent that men invest.

"If women aren't at conferences, then there's no pressure for quotas, there is no pressure for women's land rights... there is no pressure for justice for war crimes," Goetz said.

But why did it take so long to include women? Goetz said it is because the international community has itself been slow to acknowledge that women have specific priorities and perspectives that are inadequately reflected by governments.

Goetz told IPS, "There is now a growing recognition that you cannot build good governance and sound economic foundations without involving half the population."

Source: Inter-Press Service.
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106231.

Conflict strains aid for South Sudan

JUBA, South Sudan, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Refugees are streaming across the border into South Sudan to escape violence in Sudan's state of Blue Nile, aid agencies say.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir is in the United States for an investment conference, his first U.S. visit since his country gained independence in July.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick said during the conference that while gaining independence was a sign of Kiir's commitment to peace, the region has known war and suffering for far too long.

"Although they are now two independent countries, Sudan and South Sudan remain interdependent," he said. "They need to find a path of peace and security, growth and opportunity, together and connected."

South Sudan's independence was secured through a process outlined in a peace deal reached with Washington's help in 2005. Disputes over oil and border conflicts, however, threaten to unravel the peace agreement.

The U.N. refugee agency warned that at least 1,000 people were fleeing violence in Sudan to South Sudan's Blue Nile state.

Sudanese refugees told aid officials it took a month to walk to safety.

Michelle Iseminger, deputy director for the World Food Program's operations in South Sudan, told the United Nations' humanitarian news agency IRIN that supplies were running out.

"We're moving food in as fast as possible," said Iseminger. "It's very difficult because the local places where we get food have been muddy and blocked (and air freight is limited due to several emergencies in South Sudan)."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/12/15/Conflict-strains-aid-for-South-Sudan/UPI-56551323971213/.

South Sudan to introduce 'pound' as currency

11 Jul 2011

Fledgling nation forms cabinet and details plan for release of new money, two days after independence from North Sudan.

South Sudan formed a caretaker government and announced on Monday it will use a new currency that features the image of the deceased founder of the nation's liberation struggle.

The new African nation became an independent on Saturday, breaking away from Sudan after more than 50 years of on-and-off war.

David Deng Athorbie, the new finance minister, said the new currency would be called the South Sudan pound and will replace the Sudan pound currently in use.

It is scheduled to arrive by cargo plane beginning on Wednesday and will go into circulation next Monday.

It will have a one-to-one value with the Sudan pound and the image of John Garang, the deceased rebel leader, will adorn one side of the bills.

The other sides would show images of the fledgling country's culture and wealth, Athorbie said, and the bills will have watermarks and other security measures.

"I must warn those people who usually print fake currency, if they attempt it they will almost certainly be caught", Athorbie said.

Birth of a nation

Impromptu street parties broke out early on Saturday when the oil-rich country became independent.

World leaders flocked to Juba to join tens of thousands of southerners at a 10-hour ceremony held in blistering heat.

On Sunday, churches were packed as southerners listened to sermons about promoting peace and unity among the country's diverse tribes.

And on Monday, although a national holiday had been declared, the government got to work.

With hands on bibles - both Arabic and English - the ministers of the semi-autonomous Southern Sudanese government were transformed into the caretaker cabinet for the new republic of South Sudan at an informal and jovial ceremony.

Cabinet composition

In between jokes made by the typically quiet and solemn President Salva Kiir, the chief justice of the Supreme Court read the fourth and fifth decrees of the new government, which dissolved the former cabinet and appointed the same 32 ministers to serve as caretaker ministers.

Several ministerial titles changed to reflect South Sudan's status as a country.

The former minister of regional cooperation is now the foreign affairs minister, while the southern army and veterans' affairs minister became the defense minister.

The decree said the ministers "shall not undertake any major policy decisions" or enter into any "major contractual obligations" during the caretaker period, whose duration has not yet been specified.

After the Cabinet was sworn in, the finance minister told a news conference that there would be difficulties in paying government salaries on time because Sudan's government had not sent an adequate supply of the northern Sudanese currency.

Gier Chuang Aluong, minster of the interior, said the government was in the process of preparing the country's passports and urged patience.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/07/2011711145513727475.html.

Nations welcome world's newest state South Sudan

2011-07-10

UN chief says new chapter has been opened when people of South Sudan claim their freedom, dignity that is their birthright.

PARIS - World leaders hailed the birth on Saturday of the Republic of South Sudan, the world's newest nation, as a historic event bringing to a close 50 years of conflict in northeastern Africa.

Amid tears of joy in Juba, South Sudan's parliament speaker on Saturday proclaimed his state's independence, splitting in two what had been Africa's largest nation.

US President Barack Obama led official recognition of the country, calling it "another step forward in Africa's long journey toward opportunity, democracy and justice."

"I am proud to declare that the United States formally recognizes the Republic of South Sudan as a sovereign and independent state upon this day, July 9, 2011," Obama said in a statement.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon, speaking at the official ceremony in Juba, said a new chapter had been opened "when the people of South Sudan claim their freedom and dignity that is their birthright."

Messages of congratulation flooded in from nations around the world including Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Switzerland and Turkey.

"Today a new country is rising in Africa. I congratulate South Sudan on its independence and wish its people a prosperous and peaceful future," said EU president Herman Van Rompuy in a Twitter message.

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma said Africans from the Cape to Cairo were proud of South Sudan's independence, after decades of conflict between the southern rebels and successive Khartoum governments that left the region in ruins and claimed millions of lives.

"We have always aspired to witness the dawn of peace, security and stability prevailing in the whole of the Sudan. That dream is coming to fruition," said Zuma, adding however that "change always brings uncertainty and discomfort."

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, in Juba said the day marked the beginning of "a new dawn" for the people of the new country, a statement from his office said.

Nigeria would support and assist the new country in every possible way as they began the task of building a new nation, he added.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed on his country's best wishes in a letter to the new country's President Salva Kiir.

"We applaud your commitment to addressing all outstanding issues with North Sudan in an amicable and peaceful manner," he said.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the move as "a day of joy and great hope for the people".

Offering help to the new nation, she said it was now important "to back South Sudan on the road to stability that will bring people peace, security and economic development."

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy said the independence declaration was the fulfillment of an exceptional process, initiated by a peace accord in 2005, that all the international community supported and that "the North and South (of Sudan) brought courageously to completion."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said an ambassador to Juba had already arrived to take up his post.

"This is an historic day, for South Sudan and the whole of Africa," he said, adding that Britain was proud to be "among the first to recognize South Sudanese independence".

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent a telegram of congratulation to his South Sudanese counterpart and also expressed interest in the vast oil reserves in South Sudan.

"The Russian business world has expressed a strong interest in working with their South Sudanese partners, notably in developing and extracting its natural resources," he said.

China's special envoy extended President Hu Jintao's "warmest congratulations" to the "young Republic" of South Sudan, while noting the ongoing negotiations between north and south.

He said Beijing, Sudan's main trading partner and the largest investor in its key oil industry, hoped the two sides could be "good neighbors, partners and brothers forever."

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47120.

South Sudan celebrates birth with raising of flag

July 09, 2011 — JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan celebrated its first day as an independent nation Saturday, raising its flag before tens of thousands of cheering citizens elated to reach the end of a 50-year struggle.

U.S. President Barack Obama called the day a new dawn after the darkness of war, while visiting dignitaries offered both congratulations and prodding for South Sudan and its former ruler, Sudan, to avoid a return to conflict over serious and unresolved disagreements.

"The eyes of the world are now on us," said South Sudan President Salva Kiir, who was inaugurated during a scorching midday ceremony. Kiir stressed that the people of South Sudan must advance their country together, and unite as countrymen first, casting aside allegiances to the dozens of tribes that reside here.

Saturday meant that South Sudan and its black tribesmen would for the first time be linked politically with sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya and Uganda are already laying strong economic ties with their northern neighbor, an oil-rich country that may one day ship its oil to a Kenyan port, instead of through the pipelines controlled by Khartoum.

"From today our identity is southern and African, not Arabic and Muslim," read a hand-painted sign that one man carried as he walked through the crowds. South Sudan first celebrated its new status with a a raucous street party at midnight. At a packed midday ceremony, the speaker of parliament read a proclamation of independence as the flag of Sudan was lowered and the flag of South Sudan was raised, sparking wild cheers from a crowd tens of thousands strong.

"Hallelujah!" one resident yelled, as other onlookers wiped away tears. The U.S. and Britain, among others, announced their recognition of South Sudan as a sovereign nation. "A proud flag flies over Juba and the map of the world has been redrawn," Obama said in a statement. "These symbols speak to the blood that has been spilled, the tears that have been shed, the ballots that have been cast, and the hopes that have been realized by so many millions of people."

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, a deeply unpopular man in Juba, arrived to a mixture of boos and murmurs. He stood beside Kiir and smiled during the ceremony, and said in a speech that he respected the south's choice to secede, even as he prodded Obama "to meet his promsie and lift the sanctions imposed on Sudan."

The U.S. has promised economic and political rewards to Khartoum if it allows the south to secede peacefully, but military standoffs in the contested border region of Abyei and new fighting in South Kordofan — a state in Sudan with many south-supporting residents — risk new north-south conflict. The U.S. has indicated that those issues need to be resolved before normalization of relations occur.

Obama said that South Sudan and Sudan must recognize that they will be more secure and prosperous if they move beyond past differences peacefully. He said the 2005 peace deal must be full implemented and the status of Abyei resolved.

In Khartoum, the former capital of the south, newspaper headlines bid goodbye, with one saying: "Time to Let Go." "Today we have decided it is time to move forward toward the future," wrote Adil Al-Baz, the editor of Al-Ahdath independent daily. "Great people make use of big events to create new opportunities."

The black African tribes of South Sudan and the mainly Arab north battled two civil wars over more than five decades, and some 2 million died in the latest war, from 1983-2005. It culminated in a 2005 peace deal that led to Saturday's independence declaration.

Thousands of South Sudanese poured into the ceremonial arena when gates opened. Traditional dancers drummed in the streets as residents waved tiny flags. Activists from the western Sudan region of Darfur, which has suffered heavy violence the past decades, held up a sign that said "Bashir is wanted dead or alive." Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur.

"Wow, this is a great day for me because it's a day that reflects the suffering that all southerners have had for almost 50 years," said David Aleu, a 24-year-old medical student. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and the American envoy at Saturday's celebration, urged South Sudan residents and leaders to build a country worthy of the sacrifice of all the lives lost during the five decades of conflict.

"Independence was not a gift you were given. Independence is a prize you have won," she said. "Yet even on this day of jubilee we remain mindful of the challenges that await us. No true friend would offer false comfort. The path ahead will be steep ... but the Republic of South Sudan is being born amid great hopes."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointedly noted that Sudan and South Sudan have not yet resolved the status of Abyei, where northern and southern troops are standing off. He called for consultations in South Kordofan, where northern troops are attacking southern supporters.

"Let their differences be resolved around the negotiating table," Ban said. South Sudan is expected to become the 193rd country recognized by the United Nations next week and the 54th U.N. member state in Africa.

It follows on the heels of East Timor in 2002 and Montenegro in 2006 which quickly became full-fledged members of the United Nations after being recognized by the vast majority of the international community within a few weeks or months of independence. Kosovo, however, declared its independence in 2008 and is recognized by 76 nations, but is still waiting to be recognized by the U.N.

Though Saturday was a day of celebration, residents of South Sudan must soon face many challenges. Their country is oil-rich but is one of the poorest and least-developed on Earth. The 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) north-south border is disputed in five areas, several of which are being illegally occupied by either northern or southern troops.

The young government must also begin delivering basic needs such as education, health services, water and electricity to its more than 8 million citizens. While South Sudan is now expected to control of more than 75 percent of what was Sudan's daily oil production, it has no refineries and southern oil must flow through the north's pipelines to reach market.

But for Saturday, at least, those problems lay on the back burner. Smiles, singing and dancing instead took precedence. "I'm very grateful to see many people from other countries," said 22-year-old Adut Monica Joseph. "I'm appreciating that they have come to celebrate with us. I hope when we have independence we shall have freedom and education for women."

Associated Press writer Jason Straziuso in Nairobi, Kenya and Mohamed Osman in Khartoum, Sudan contributed to this report.

Egypt, US recognize new state of South Sudan

By REUTERS
Jul 9, 2011

CAIRO/WASHINGTON: Egypt and the United States declared their recognition of the state of South Sudan on Saturday after its split from the north.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed el-Orabi announced Egypt’s support for the new state following that of the Khartoum-based government of Sudan, which was the first to recognize South Sudan on Friday, a few hours before it formally became a new country at midnight.

Egypt has watched the split warily. It depends on the Nile’s water to survive and the creation of South Sudan adds a new state on that river. East African states have argued to review colonial-era quotas for the use of Nile water.

Orabi was speaking after his arrival in Juba, the south’s capital, the official Egyptian news agency MENA reported.

The Cairo-based Arab League said South Sudan had the right to join the league, Egypt’s state television reported.

Obama hails birth of a new nation

In Washington, President Barack Obama hailed the “birth of a new nation” but stopped short of announcing any immediate changes in longstanding US sanctions on Sudan itself that Khartoum has been hoping will be lifted.

Obama’s statement came amid jubilant celebrations in Juba, capital of the new Republic of South Sudan, an under-developed oil producer. It won its independence in a January referendum — the climax of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the north.

“I am proud to declare that the United States formally recognizes the Republic of South Sudan as a sovereign and independent state upon this day, July 9, 2011,” Obama said. “Today is a reminder that after the darkness of war, the light of a new dawn is possible.”

But serious tensions remain between north and south and the fractured region now heads into a new period of uncertainty.

Northern and southern leaders have still not agreed on a list of issues, most importantly the line of the border, the ownership of the disputed Abyei region and how they will handle oil revenues, the lifeblood of both economies.

Obama made clear that more work needed to be done.

“Lasting peace will only be realized if all sides fulfill their responsibilities,” he said. “The Comprehensive Peace Agreement must be fully implemented, the status of Abyei must be resolved through negotiations, and violence and intimidation in Southern Kordofan, especially by the government of Sudan, must end.”

The Obama administration’s strategy has been to offer Khartoum financial and diplomatic incentives in return for completing the north-south split in an orderly way.

But Obama made no specific promises as he welcomed South Sudan’s independence and pledged US partnership with the new nation in efforts toward security, development and good governance.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said South Sudan’s independence marked an opportunity for Khartoum to demonstrate its commitment to resolving outstanding problems.

“By continuing on the path of peace, the government of Sudan can redefine its relationship with the international community and secure a more prosperous future for its people,” Clinton said in a statement.

Washington has had a trade embargo on Sudan since 1997 and also lists the country as a state sponsor for terrorism. Khartoum has been hoping Washington would end all sanctions, normalize diplomatic relations and remove Sudan from the terrorism blacklist.

But US officials remain concerned about the Sudanese government’s harsh handling of insurgencies in its Darfur and South Kordofan regions.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article468987.ece.

Sudan's president congratulates independent South

By REUTERS
Jul 9, 2011

JUBA: Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir congratulated South Sudan on its independence on Saturday and called for good neighborly relations at a ceremony to mark the south’s split from Sudan in the north.

Sudan became the first nation to recognize the south on Friday, hours before the birth of the new state, a gesture of goodwill from the north which fought against secessionist forces for decades.

“We congratulate our brothers in the south for the establishment of their new state,” said Bashir, addressing thousands of southerners who cheered after he spoke.

“We share their joy and celebration,” he said. “The will of the people of the south has to be respected.”

“Despite our belief that Sudan’s unity would have been better ... the gains achieved over the last years from the shared conviction of the feasibility of peace ... must be protected,” Bashir said.

The president of Sudan, who lost almost a third of his country’s territory and about three quarters of its oil reserves with the split, said gains could be secured with “positive” ties and by maintaining joint economic and trade interests.

He called for support from the international community. “We call on US President Barack Obama to deliver on his commitment he announced to lift the unilateral sanctions on Sudan to open to way to normalize his country’s relations with Sudan.”

Obama recognized the south in a statement earlier on Saturday but stopped short of announcing any immediate changes in longstanding US sanctions on Sudan itself that Khartoum has been hoping will be lifted.

Addressing the crowd, Bashir said: “We have a joint and continuing responsibility to build and strengthen confidence to complete the agreement on outstanding issues.”

Northern and southern leaders have still not agreed on a list of issues, most importantly the line of the border, the ownership of the disputed Abyei region and how they will handle oil revenues, the lifeblood of both economies.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article469116.ece.

Leader of S. Sudan offers peace to rebels, hotspots

Jul 9, 2011

JUBA: South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir promised to bring peace to troubled border areas and offered an amnesty to armed groups fighting his government, hours after his state declared independence from the north on Saturday.

South Sudan seceded on Saturday — a separation won in a January referendum that was the climax of a 2005 peace deal which ended decades of civil war with the north.

“I want to assure the people of Abyei, Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan that we have not forgotten you. When you cry, we cry. When you bleed, we bleed,” Kiir said at the independence ceremony in the southern capital Juba, watched by world leaders.

“I pledge to you today that we will find a just peace for all,” he said, adding he would work with north Sudan’s President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir to attain that.

All the areas he mentioned are on the ill-defined border the south shares with the north — all of them hotspots that analysts fear could reignite violence after the separation

Abyei is a fertile area, with some oil reserves, claimed by both sides. Darfur is the scene of an eight-year insurgency against Khartoum.

Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile are both in north Sudan but include large populations which sided with the south during the civil war. Kiir’s statement may have been intended to connect with those groups who have since felt left behind by Juba.

Armed groups in Southern Kordofan have been fighting northern government troops since early June.

“I would like to take this opportunity to declare amnesty for all those who have taken up arms against Sudan,” Kiir added.

At least seven rebel militia are fighting government forces in remote parts of South Sudan.

Many of them say they are fighting against what they see as corruption and ethnic discrimination in the south’s government, charges denied by the state. Kiir has offered pardons before with limited success.

Kiir told the crowd he would also fight the “cancer of corruption” in the south.

“This new nation shall strive to live in peace with its neighbors north, south, east and west,” Kiir said.

He later said that having lived with war for so long, South Sudanese would never allow themselves to be categorized as “aggressors or troublemakers.”

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article469120.ece.

South Sudan eyes alternative pipelines

JUBA, Sudan, July 7 (UPI) -- South Sudan has nothing to lose by considering building an oil pipeline link to Kenya, bypassing the north, a transport minister said.

South Sudan takes control of 75 percent of the united country's oil production of 490,000 barrels per day when it gains independence Saturday.

Both sides agreed in May that South Sudan will pay the Sudanese government in Khartoum pipeline and export related fees. Anthony Lino Makana, the roads and transport minister for South Sudan, told reporters his government was in talks with oil companies to build a link to an existing oil pipeline running through Kenya.

"We will have nothing to lose if the north refuses to allow us to hire the pipes, they will be the ones to lose," he was quoted by the Sudan Tribune as saying.

Garang Diing Akuong, South Sudan's oil minister, said the northern government was putting up road blocks in the energy sector.

"We have no problem hiring the pipes that are in the north but it is the government in the north which is complicating everything," he was quoted as saying.

Khartoum, he added, was demanding too much in discussions on how to deal with oil once the south gains formal independence.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/07/07/South-Sudan-eyes-alternative-pipelines/UPI-51721310037199/.

South Sudan becomes independent

Fri Jul 8, 2011

South Sudan has become independent, making it Africa's newest nation and the world's newest country.

South Sudan became independent several minutes ago, shortly after midnight local time on July 9.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Sudanese President Omar Bashir, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Yehia al-Gamal, and other prominent political figures traveled to the South Sudan capital Juba on Friday to attend the independence ceremony of the new Republic of South Sudan.

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, and the head of the US military's Africa Command, Gen Carter Ham were also in Juba for the independence day celebrations.

President Bashir, who forged the 2005 peace deal with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), expressed readiness to work with the “Southern brothers and help them set up their state so that, God willing, this state will be stable and develop.”

“The cooperation between us will be excellent, particularly when it comes to marking and preserving the border so there is a movement of citizens and goods via this border,” he said.

South Sudan becomes the 193rd country recognized by the United Nations and the 54th UN member state in Africa.

Joyful residents of the new nation banged on jerry cans and chanted the name of the world's newest president, Salva Kiir, the Associated Press reported.

“We are brothers and sisters who suffered for a long time, and that is why we are now celebrating, what we will achieve,” said a resident.

“In independence we are going to have hospitals and schools and a lot of development around here. Our mothers and sisters died in the past. Hospitals were very far from us.”

South Sudan's independence comes after decades of conflict with the north in which over 1.5 million people died. The new oil-rich nation is one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.

A historic peace agreement between North and South Sudan signed in 2005 paved the way for an independence referendum in January 2011, in which southerners voted almost unanimously to secede. North Sudan has officially recognized southern independence.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/188209.html.

South Sudan to become new nation amid war worries

July 07, 2011 — JUBA, Sudan (AP) — The people of South Sudan finally get their own country on Saturday, an emotional independence celebration few thought possible during a half century of civil wars and oppression that left more than 2 million dead.

Military parades and celebrations will burst forth Saturday in front of dozens of visiting world leaders. But when that party ends, South Sudan must face grim realities: It will be one of the most underdeveloped countries on the planet, only 15 percent of its citizens can read and fears of renewed conflict abound.

South Sudan's successful independence drive was made possible by a 2005 peace deal between Sudan's north and south. Last January, former guerrilla fighters shed tears as they cast votes to break away from the control of the Khartoum-based north.

Among those who cast ballots at special U.S. polling stations were some of the 3,800 war orphans known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, who ran away from war and were taken in by communities in the United States.

In the southern capital of Juba this week, the Republic of South Sudan's new national anthem blared from cell phones. "It took a combination of bullets and ballots to attain our hard-earned independence," reads a new sign next to a main intersection here.

Albino Gaw, a member of a minority tribe who works for the government in Juba, said he's excited about the south's independence. The 30-year-old former child soldier said he's pessimistic though about how much work lies ahead.

"The day will be good but people are expecting something more than we've gotten in the past five years," he said. "A lot of work needs to be done by the government. Otherwise things will be like they were before."

The world's newest capital, the Nile River city of Juba, was war-ravaged ruins six years ago, when the 1983-2005 north-south civil war ended. It was the second war between the mostly Arab north and the south, where traditional African religions and Christianity are practiced.

Now the presidential motorcade is practicing its run through the city for Saturday afternoon, when world leaders will watch South Sudan President Salva Kiir host the country's inauguration. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend, as will former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice and Gen. Carter Ham, commander of the U.S. Africa Command. Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, a deeply unpopular man in Juba, is also expected to attend.

Despite the excitement, South Sudan is saddled with problems. Violence — from cattle raids and rebel battles — has killed nearly 2,400 people this year, the U.N. says. Seven different rebel militias operate in the south.

More ominously, troops from north and south Sudan are facing off in the contested region of Abyei. Fighting between the north and forces loyal to the south is raging in Southern Kordofan, a state that lies in the north.

A major undercurrent is fight for the oil that lies near the north-south border — oil that South Sudan gains and Khartoum loses, though for now the south's crude can reach the world market only by moving through the north's pipelines.

Despite the south's oil wealth, the Texas-sized region has only about 30 miles (50 kilometers) of paved road. In an advisory sent out this week for the independence celebration, the government reminded incoming guests that Juba doesn't have any credit card processing machines.

Lise Grande, who leads the U.N.'s humanitarian operations in South Sudan, says the region is "one of the most underdeveloped on the planet." Only 15 percent of the population can read. Most live on a $1 a day. Education and health facilities are sorely underdeveloped.

"You don't get the kind of statistics you have in Southern Sudan if you're not dealing with years of marginalization," Grande said. "It is their legacy. It is the price that these people have paid. Someone who could be my daughter has a higher chance of dying in childbirth than finishing school. That says everything you need to know about Southern Sudan."

Still, Zach Vertin of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group says there is reason to be "cautiously optimistic" about the years ahead for the 6-year-old government. It had just two employees when it started — the president and vice president — but now runs 32 ministries, 17 commissions and 10 state-level governments.

The young government faces the massive challenges of reforming its bloated and often predatory army, diversifying its solely oil-based economy, and deciding how political power will be distributed among the dozens of ethnic and military factions.

The government must also begin delivering basic services like education, health services, and water and electricity to its more than 8 million citizens. Isaac Boyd with the American aid group Catholic Relief Services says that it will take decades for the new country to construct a road network that connects remote communities and allows them to participate in a market economy.

"Only a handful of secondary schools throughout the country serve a population where 51 percent is under the age of 18," Boyd said. "Aid agencies will do what they can but the long-term solution rests with the people of Southern Sudan."

Grande said the problems South Sudan faces are "bigger and harder than what any other country in Africa faced" when most nations on the continent gained independence from the colonial powers in the 1960s.

On top of that, the prospect for a return to all-out war between north and south seems higher than it's ever been since the signing of the 2005 peace deal. More than 100,000 people were displaced in May after the northern army seized the disputed border area of Abyei, and activists fear an ethnic cleansing of the black African Nuba people is under way in Southern Kordofan.

The hostilities dashed hopes that the two governments could reach a "divorce deal" over unresolved north-south issues related to the peace deal before Saturday, including oil-sharing arrangements and the final demarcation of the border.

A draft constitution was passed this week that lays the groundwork for the president and legislature, who were elected in April 2010, to serve out their five-year terms. The legislature's few opposition legislators are unhappy with the draft, but it now serves as an interim constitution until the first multiparty elections are held.

On Saturday at least, politics will be on the backburner. During times of celebration in the south — at weddings or on Martyr's Day — gunshots ring out, symbolic of the history of violence and the fact many civilians own weapons.

The south's information minister is predicting a less violent entry into statehood. As the clock reaches midnight and the calendar turns to July 9 early Saturday, he said, the only thing to be heard will be "church bells ringing, the beating of drums and women ululating."

North and South Sudan to Continue Negotiations After Secession

By Jack Phillips
Jul 4, 2011

Northern and Southern Sudan decided on Monday to keep the discussion alive regarding the disputed region along the border after the south becomes officially independent on July 9.

On Saturday, southern Sudan is will become its own separate country. However, the two sides have yet to agree to the fate of the disputed oil-rich Abyei region, where fighting has been taking place, as well as how to divide up oil revenues

The announcement was made in a six-page communique from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The communique "calls upon the [African Union] High Level Implementation Panel to continue its engagement with both parties in order to resolve all these issues" after Saturday’s independence.

The six-nation group held talks in Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa on Monday, which were attended by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and the south’s Salva Kiir.

Sudan has been under international pressure, especially from the United Nations, to resolve these issues before the official split. Last week, the U.N. voted to send thousands of Ethiopian peacekeepers Abyei to ensure that northern troops pull out.

During last month’s violence, hundreds were killed and tens of thousands of locals fled the region.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/north-and-south-sudan-to-continue-negotiations-after-succession-58643.html.

North, south Sudan agree to demilitarized border

By MAGGIE FICK | AP
May 31, 2011

JUBA, Sudan: North and south Sudan have agreed to establish a jointly patrolled demilitarized border zone between the two sides as the south prepares to declare independence in July, the African Union said Tuesday.

AU adviser Alex de Waal, who has facilitated negotiations on security issues between Sudan’s north and south regions, said the parties agreed on Monday during talks in Ethiopia’s capital to form a common, demilitarized zone stretching across the 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) north-south border. It’s not yet known when the zone will go into effect.

The zone will stretch 6 miles (10 kilometers) north and south from the 1956 border, the tentative line drawn when Sudan became independent from Britain.

De Waal told The Associated Press by phone from Addis Ababa that discussions over a third-party military monitoring body — a United Nations peacekeeping force, for instance — were still to come.

Col. Philip Aguer, spokesman for the south’s army, said the southern military will support the agreement “100 percent” if both sides can agree where the actual border is.

“To me that is a good agreement, but the issue now is where is the border,” he said.

North and south Sudan fought two civil wars off and on over more than four decades before signing a 2005 peace deal. But the sides’ relations took a nosedive earlier this month when the northern Sudanese army invaded and seized the disputed border town of Abyei.

The military action came after months of building tensions between the two armies in Abyei, a fertile, oil-producing border zone which both the north and south claim. It sent an estimated 80,000 residents of the area running for their lives, fleeing into villages and towns in the southern state of Warrap, which is now experiencing what Western diplomats and UN humanitarian officials have called a perfect storm of factors resulting in food, fuel, and shelter shortages.

De Waal said the agreement to establish a demilitarized border zone provides a model for solving the Abyei crisis.

He called the deal a necessary step between the two parties that will allow the Sudanese government to take the necessary action to demilitarize Abyei.

Since the Sudanese Armed Forces invaded the town of Abyei on May 21 with tanks, heavy artillery and air cover, the UN Security Council and a host of Western nations have repeatedly condemned the act. President Obama’s special envoy to Sudan called it a disproportionate response to an attack by the southern army on a UN-escorted northern military convoy in the area on May 19.

The Security Council has called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the northern army from Abyei, but the government of President Omar Al-Bashir has not made any concessions. On the evening of May 26, the northern army bombed and destroyed the strategic bridge across the Bahr el Arab, called the River Kiir by southerners, which forms the 1956 border in the area.

De Waal expressed optimism that the agreement will provide a basis for re-establishing cooperative relations between north and south at a time when a number of key issues related to the future of the two regions, including the sharing of oil wealth, remain unresolved.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article444211.ece.

Southern Sudan: North's seizure of Abyei is 'war'

AP
Sun, 22/05/2011

Juba, Sudan - Northern Sudan's seizure of a contested border region is an act of war, a spokesman for the Southern Sudanese army said Sunday, raising fears that fighting over the town could re-ignite a civil war between the north and south.

Northern forces with tanks occupied the disputed town of Abyei on Saturday night, scattering southern troops that were there as part of a joint security unit, said southern officials and a UN spokeswoman. Khartoum-based state television cited unnamed military sources who said the army was in full control of the situation in Abyei.

Both north and south claim the fertile region, which lies near several important oil fields. Hollywood actor George Clooney set up a project to monitor the area by satellite, fearing it could be a flash point that could draw the region back into civil war.

The north's seizure of the town follows several days of fighting and bombing and drew immediate condemnation from the US government.

"We didn't declare war," said southern army spokesman Col. Philip Aguer. "The [ruling Sudanese] National Congress Party and the Sudan Armed Forces declared war on us."

Southern Sudan fought the north for more than two decades in a brutal war that claimed more than 2 million lives and forced more than 4 million people to flee their homes. A peace deal in 2005 offered the south the chance for independence and it overwhelmingly voted to secede in a January referendum. It is due to become the world's newest country in less than two months but the Abyei violence threatens to further destabilize an already volatile region.

Aguer said southern troops stationed in Abyei were overrun and scattered after the north conducted two days of aerial bombardments, focusing on a bridge where southern reinforcements would have entered.

The southern army "will maintain the status quo," he said, while it waits for the decision of the southern government on how best to respond.

Aguer called for the United Nations Mission in Sudan "to protect the people of Abyei," saying that the northern government intends to "displace civilians and commit human rights violations as they did in Darfur," Sudan's western region where a civil war broke out in 2003.

Several members of the Abyei government were missing, he said.

"There has been a fighting mood in Khartoum," said Southern Sudanese Minister of Information Barnaba Marial Benjamin, referring to the capital of northern Sudan. "We cannot accept this fighting mood to continue ... the event is a long-term plan done by the government of Khartoum to disrupt and carry out an invasion."

Aid group Doctors Without Borders said in a statement the entire population of Abyei fled Saturday morning after the bombing raids, gunfights and mortaring. One mortar exploded in a UN compound but there were no casualties.

There were at least 15 northern tanks in Abyei, UN spokeswoman Hua Jiang said Saturday night.

The massive escalation in the most volatile spot along Sudan's contested north-south border came as the United Nations Security Council began a four-day visit to Sudan. The Council's scheduled visit to Abyei has been canceled because of the violence but they are due to make a public statement in Khartoum later on Sunday.

The US condemned the offensive on Saturday, saying Thursday's attack by southern forces on a UN was deplorable but the north's response "disproportionate and irresponsible."

"The actions being taken by the government of Sudan are blatant violations of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and threaten to undermine the mutual commitment of the CPA parties to avoid a return to war," the White House statement said.

It called on Sudan's military to cease its offensive in Abyei and withdraw its forces. Failure to do so could set back the process of normalizing US-Sudanese relations, the statement warned.

The south is mainly animist and Christian and its people are linguistically and ethnically linked to sub-Saharan Africa. The north is overwhelmingly Muslim and many members of the government consider themselves Arabs. Most of Sudan's oil is in the south but the pipeline needed to export it runs through northern territory to a northern-held port.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/447353.

More than 80 killed in south Sudan violence

By JEREMY CLARKE | REUTERS
May 11, 2011

JUBA, Sudan: More than 80 rebels and civilians were killed when insurgents attacked a camp in south Sudan, the army said on Tuesday, in the latest violence to mar preparations for the region’s independence.

In a separate incident, unknown attackers shot and wounded four Zambian UN peacekeepers in the contested Abyei region on Tuesday, another north/south flashpoint, the United Nations said.

People from Sudan’s oil-producing south overwhelmingly voted to secede in a referendum in January, promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the north.

Celebrations over the independence vote have been marred by a wave of tribal violence and clashes between the south’s army and renegade militias.

Analysts warn that the underdeveloped south, due to split away in July, could become a failed state and destabilize the whole region if security deteriorates further.

Leaders from the south, where most follow Christian and traditional beliefs, have accused Khartoum of backing the rebels to disrupt the region and keep control of its oil.

The mostly Muslim north has dismissed this as have many of the militias who say they are rebelling against what they say is an autocratic government in the south.

Rebel militia fighters attacked a camp used by cattle herders in the south’s Warrap state on Sunday, southern army (SPLA) spokesman Philip Aguer told Reuters.

“We (the SPLA) forced this militia out of Unity state on the 6th and 7th (of May). They crossed into Warrap state and attacked a cattle camp and killed 34 civilians and wounded 45.”

“Later, civilians and police chased the militia into an ambush and killed 48 of them,” Aguer added.

Tribal or rebel violence has broken out in all but one of the south’s ten states this year, killing more than 1,000 people, according to the United Nations and army figures.

More clashes

Aguer said there were also more clashes with militia in the south’s Unity state on Monday. He gave no casualty figures but said the army had seized heavy artillery, communication equipment, anti-tank mines and machine guns.

A rebel militia loyal to former SPLA officer Peter Gadet said it had fought the army in the area for several days.

“We were fighting with the SPLA this morning. It wasn’t much but yesterday it was very heavy...It has been going on for days,” the group’s spokesman Bol Gatkouth told Reuters.

The United Nations estimates at least seven separate militia are at war with the southern government.

North and south have yet to agree on a range of issues such as how they will divide oil revenues or who owns Abyei, a fertile, oil-producing region that straddles the border.

Attackers shot the Zambian peacekeepers in Goli north of Abyei town on Tuesday afternoon, said Hua Jiang, spokeswoman for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).

“One of them was seriously wounded, and all were evacuated to Abyei for treatment,” she said.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article393818.ece.

Excellent Sudan-Malaysia Ties Despite North-south Separation

By R. Ravichandran

KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 (Bernama) -- Despite Southern Sudan seceding from the North, its relations with Malaysia continue to be excellent, both at the economic and political level, as well as people-to-people relations.

Little wonder why Sudan's Ambassador to Malaysia Nadir Yousif Eltayeb describes the Khartoum-Kuala Lumpur relations as a "strategic relationship".

He expressed satisfaction with the political and economic ties which bind the two countries.

"Our relations continue to be strategic and good even after the separation of South...strategic because we have very close relations in the last 20 years," he told reporters when asked about the current bilateral relations after the North and South separation.

Earlier, Nadir called on Senate president Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang at the latter's office in the Parliament building here today.

More than 98 per cent of Southern Sudanese voted to secede from the North, in a referendum held from Jan 9 to 15. The split will make Southern Sudan as the world's newest country on July 9.

South Sudan has been chosen as the name, but this will require approval by the Southern Sudan parliament.

On the political level, Nadir said, the leadership of the two countries engaged in close contact.

He said the countries also enjoyed good coordination on various issues at international fora, such as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), where they were members.

Nadir said that on the economic level, despite the separation, Malaysian national oil company Petronas, which had been operating successfully in the African country for the last 15 years, continued to involve in the oil and gas sector.

He said Petronas was involved in new discoveries in about three states in the North.

On the people-to-people relationship, Nadir said Sudan's community in Malaysia now numbered more than 3,000, mostly students, and the numbers were increasing.

"They chose Malaysia because it is a good hub for education...because of the quality of the education. The hospitality of the people and also the environment which is very good and also relatively cheap," he said.

He said the number of Sudanese tourists visiting Malaysia was also on the rise, with some 11,000 visiting in 2009.

Nadir also said that Sudanese participating under the Malaysia, My Second Home program was also on the increase.

"All these reflect Malaysia's very special relations with Sudan, in terms of people-to-people, as well as government-to-government relations," he said.

Nadir also said that Khartoum had welcomed and recognized the referendum results, and would cooperate with the government of the South in the interest of the peoples of both sides.

"We will help the South...the new state. We will be very close to them because we believe that we want to make sure that peace and stability prevail for the benefit of the peoples of the North and South," he said

Meanwhile, Abu Zahar said that both of them had friendly discussions on general issues, adding that Sudan and Malaysia enjoyed a good bilateral relationship.

He said, being representative of the Malaysian Government, he looked forward to further enhancement of the relationship between Malaysia and Sudan in all aspects.

He noted it was also important for Sudanese students intending to pursue their studies here to check the education institutions with the relevant agencies here, as well as with the embassy.

-- BERNAMA

Source: Bernama.
Link: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=585047.

Diplomats urge compromise over S. Sudan region

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 7, 2011

JUBA, Sudan: Diplomats visiting Southern Sudan say the north and south need to compromise to resolve the status of a flashpoint border region as the south prepares for independence.

Representatives from the US, Britain and Norway called Saturday for compromise over Abyei, where clashes have left more than 100 people dead since the south’s January independence vote.

Southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly to secede from the north and is slated to become its own country in July. The future of the Abyei region, which contains oil deposits, is still being negotiated.

Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir recently threatened he would not recognize the new southern nation if it includes Abyei.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the military standoff in Abyei is unacceptable and threatens peace.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article386578.ece.

Sudan: South's Draft Constitution Finalized - Minister

5 April 2011

Juba — The technical committee that was tasked with reviewing South Sudan's interim constitution of 2005, ahead of the region's independence in July, has successfully completed the process, with the draft report expected in a week or so, its chairperson said.

Addressing the media in the regional capital, Juba on Tuesday, John Luk Jok said the next phase of the process, expected to commence after the July independence declaration, will be transitional in nature.

"We expect the committee's draft report either by end of this week or next week. The next phase of the process to take place after the country's independence will be all inclusive. We shall embark on nationwide consultations with the entire population," said Jok, also South Sudan's minister for legal and constitutional development.

South Sudan is due to become independent after the population overwhelming chose separation in the region's self-determination referendum held in January. The vote was a key part of the Sudan's 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended over two decades of a bloody civil war between north and south.

The technical committee, which comprised of members from the south's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), representatives from other political parties, civil society groups and the religious fraternity was initiated to transform the current interim law, through amendment, into an independent state constitution, address gaps within the legal framework and provide a road map that will guide the new nation.

Among the key issues within the draft, Jok said, is a section that addresses the South Sudan's foreign policies and legal frameworks that will handle matters related to its dealing with both neighboring nation and the outside world.

"We shall embark on a broad-based constitutional review process after the July independence declaration. This process will involve the active participation of all stakeholders including other political parties," the minister said, adding that, "there is no cause for alarm. What we are doing is in the interest of all the people of South Sudan."

His remarks come almost a month after the review process suffered a serious setback, following a boycott from nine members of the 11 political parties on the technical committee. Those who withdrew accused the SPLM member violating the procedures that had been established for the review. The SPLM has 41 members on the committee.

However, the chairperson of the committee rubbished these claims as "baseless and lacking ground". He accused the members who boycotted the committee interfering in the constitutional review process.

"Rules of procedures were not changed at all during the process of reviewing the interim constitution. As members, we were all required to vote and come to consensus. What members of these political parties were alleging was not true," said Jok, who was accompanied by Barnaba Marial Benjamin, the information and broadcasting minister.

The draft constitution, Sudan Tribune has learnt, will later be made public for various inputs, taken to the legislative assembly for debate, before it is finally forwarded to the president for endorsement.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201104060786.html.

Sudan: South Cabinet Approves 'Sovereignty Symbols' for Emerging Nation

22 March 2011

Juba — South Sudan's cabinet has approved the proposed sovereignty symbols including the name of the would-be independent state, including its flag, national anthem and its new currency, after long deliberations.

In an extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting on Tuesday chaired by the Vice President, Riek Machar Teny, the cabinet confirmed that the Republic of South Sudan, abbreviated as RoSS, would be the name of the country when it becomes independent in July. The name was initially approved last month during a meeting with participation of leaders from various political parties which included members of the executive.

The current flag of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), which was borrowed from the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) since 2005, was also approved by the cabinet to remain the flag for the independent country.

South Sudan received autonomy from Khartoum in a 2005 peace deal, which also granted the region to right to self determination in a referendum in which the south voted overwhelmingly to secede from the north.

The cabinet also approved the proposed national anthem in its current form, without amendments after it received approval last week by the Southern Sudan 2011 Taskforce, a group set up to prepare the region for independence.

Minister of information and official spokesman of the government, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, said the cabinet would now refer the issues to the parliament for further deliberations and final endorsement.

The cabinet also approved the name of the new country's currency, which is to be called the South Sudan Pound. Discussions on its design were deferred for next meeting when a sample design can be made available to the cabinet for reference by the minister of Finance and Economic Planning, David Deng Athorbei.

Citizens who spoke to Sudan Tribune expressed their reactions on the proposed features in the design of the new currency. While it was suggested by members of the committee working on the design of the currency that the face of the first chairman of the SPLM, the late John Garang de Mabior, should appear on the face of the note of the currency, others from the public say it should instead be the current President of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit, who is also the would-be first President of the Republic of South Sudan in July 2011 that should have his face featuring on the currency.

Some others argued that the first politicians and leaders in South Sudan who initiated the struggle for freedom since 1947 should instead be the ones deserving the honor of appearing on the currency.

However, the majority of citizens in the public who expressed their views said they rejected faces of individual leaders, whether past and present and preferred only historical or cultural symbols to be printed on both sides of the notes of the proposed currency.

"Why go for faces of individual leaders in the nation's currency?" asked a student of the University of Juba, who wanted to remain anonymous.

"Historical symbols, cultural heritages and sources of our livelihood plus our beautiful rivers, mountains and forests are the common symbols that unite us as the people of South Sudan and should be the only ones featuring in the currency," argued Thomas Laku, who works as an official in the government.

"Faces of individual leaders are not stable choices also because they would every time be subjected to replacements with new faces, depending on who comes to power and wants his or her face inserted in the currency," he further argued.

The future of the Sudanese Pound, and what will happen in the transition before the new currency come into circulation, is one of the issues that still need to be resolved in negotiations between Juba and Khartoum ahead of the South's independence in July.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201103230882.html.

Sudan braced for historic announcement

Sudan secession referendum results will be announced in a ceremony by President Omar al-Bashir and southern leader Salva Kiir

AFP, Monday 7 Feb 2011

Final results of Sudan's landmark independence referendum for the south due out on Monday were expected to confirm a landslide vote for secession, paving the way in July for the creation of Africa's newest state.

The results, to be announced at a ceremony in Khartoum attended by President Omar al-Bashir and southern leader Salva Kiir, are effectively known already, after preliminary results released on January 30 showed almost 99 percent of south Sudanese voted to break from the north.

Bashir, who has already recognized the prospect of partition, on Sunday repeated his commitment to developing good relations with the south after independence, and said southerners staying in the north had nothing to fear.

"Southerners in the north will be protected, they will not be expelled and their property will not be confiscated nor their lives threatened," he was quoted as saying by Ajras Al-Hurriya, a newspaper considered close to the ex-rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

The January 9-15 referendum defied expectations by taking place on time and largely without incident, despite the major logistical challenges facing the organizers and fears that the Khartoum government might try to block a process that will almost certainly split Africa's largest nation in two.

Instead, senior northern officials said shortly after the preliminary results were confirmed that the government would accept the final outcome of the vote.

The cabinet was expected to endorse the final results on Monday, prior to the formal announcement ceremony.

"The spokesman for the government will make a statement about the results after an extraordinary cabinet meeting at 1200 GMT," a cabinet source told AFP.

The referendum commission said the final results would be announced at 1630 GMT.

Reflecting the relatively smooth conduct of the referendum, which drew praise from world leaders, the commission said on Sunday that no appeals were filed, which might have delayed the final announcement by a week.

The vote was the centerpiece of a 2005 peace deal that ended a devastating 22-year conflict between the largely African Christian south and the mainly Arab Muslim north.

In addition to the sensitive question of citizenship, Khartoum and Juba now have less than six months to agree on a number of thorny issues that have yet to be resolved, among them the status of the flashpoint Abyei region, oil-revenue sharing, and border demarcation.

More than 37 people died in clashes in Abyei in January, amid a deadlock over a planned simultaneous plebiscite on whether the region stays with the north or joins the south.

At the African Union summit in Addis Ababa last week, Kiir reiterated the SPLM's stand that the contested region should hold the referendum or be handed to the south by a presidential decree.

Northern opposition leaders have also warned that southern independence will encourage separatist movements in other parts of Sudan like Darfur, where renewed fighting between rebels and the Sudanese army has forced more than 43,000 people to flee their homes since December, according to UN estimates.

And at least 50 people were killed in fighting in south Sudan’s Upper Nile state last week, in a revolt by militiamen refusing to turn in heavy weapons, according to local officials.

The referendum itself has prompted jubilation in the south.

By contrast, its outcome has caused sadness and at times anger in the north, where student activists organized street protests last week calling for regime change, civil liberties and an end to debilitating price rises, that were swiftly suppressed by the security forces.

"Today is a sad day for all the citizens of north Sudan. It's a tragedy somehow," said a 23-year-old student activist, who gave only his first name of Mohammed.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/5142.aspx.