President accepts Sudan's division
Source: Agencies |
February 8, 2011, Tuesday
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SUDAN'S president yesterday said he accepted a southern vote for independence in a referendum that is set to create Africa's newest state and open up a fresh period of uncertainty in the increasingly volatile region.
Final results from the referendum were due late yesterday, but preliminary figures show 98.83 percent of voters from Sudan's oil-producing south chose to secede from the north. Sudan is now expected to split in two on July 9.
"Today we received these results and we accept and welcome these results because they represent the will of the southern people," Omar Al Bashir said on state TV.
Bashir earlier told -supporters he knew the vote was for secession.
The referendum is the climax of a 2005 north-south peace deal that set out to end Africa's longest civil war, reunite the divided country and install democracy.
Bashir's comments allayed fears that the split could reignite conflict over the control of the south's oil reserves.
Both sides did avoid major outbreaks of violence over the past five years. But they failed to overcome decades of mutual distrust to persuade southerners to embrace unity.
Hundreds of people started gathering in the blistering heat of the southern capital Juba yesterday to celebrate the official results.
"Today I don't fear war anymore, it is the past ... Our leaders have made friends with the north, but for me, I can never forgive them for what I have seen. I don't hate them now, but I never want to see them again," said local man Riak Maker.
Many southerners see the vote as a chance to put an end to years of northern -repression, which they say stretches back through almost 50 years of civil wars.
Deep uncertainties remain over the economic and political stability of both territories over the next five months of intense negotiations over how to share their oil revenues and other unresolved issues.
Landlocked south Sudan is almost entirely dependent on oil revenues and has struggled to find other sources of income to support its economy.
The north is mired in its own economic crisis, marked by soaring inflation. The challenges were underlined over the weekend when soldiers in the southern town of Malakal mutinied, killing at least 50 people.
Final results from the referendum were due late yesterday, but preliminary figures show 98.83 percent of voters from Sudan's oil-producing south chose to secede from the north. Sudan is now expected to split in two on July 9.
"Today we received these results and we accept and welcome these results because they represent the will of the southern people," Omar Al Bashir said on state TV.
Bashir earlier told -supporters he knew the vote was for secession.
The referendum is the climax of a 2005 north-south peace deal that set out to end Africa's longest civil war, reunite the divided country and install democracy.
Bashir's comments allayed fears that the split could reignite conflict over the control of the south's oil reserves.
Both sides did avoid major outbreaks of violence over the past five years. But they failed to overcome decades of mutual distrust to persuade southerners to embrace unity.
Hundreds of people started gathering in the blistering heat of the southern capital Juba yesterday to celebrate the official results.
"Today I don't fear war anymore, it is the past ... Our leaders have made friends with the north, but for me, I can never forgive them for what I have seen. I don't hate them now, but I never want to see them again," said local man Riak Maker.
Many southerners see the vote as a chance to put an end to years of northern -repression, which they say stretches back through almost 50 years of civil wars.
Deep uncertainties remain over the economic and political stability of both territories over the next five months of intense negotiations over how to share their oil revenues and other unresolved issues.
Landlocked south Sudan is almost entirely dependent on oil revenues and has struggled to find other sources of income to support its economy.
The north is mired in its own economic crisis, marked by soaring inflation. The challenges were underlined over the weekend when soldiers in the southern town of Malakal mutinied, killing at least 50 people.
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