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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Mon Feb 07 2011 - 17:18:01 EST
South Sudan votes for independence by a landslide
Mon Feb 7, 2011 9:21pm GMT
* Sudan, Africa's largest state, set to split on July 9
* Fears remain over stability
* South leader promises help with debts, sanctions
* Hundreds celebrate in southern capital Juba
(Adds Obama comment)
By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM, Feb 7 (Reuters) - South Sudan voted overwhelmingly to declare
independence in final results of a referendum announced on Monday, opening
the door to Africa's newest state and a fresh period of uncertainty for the
fractured region.
Hundreds of south Sudanese danced, screamed and waved flags as the
announcement was broadcast on a line of TV sets in a square in the centre of
the southern capital Juba.
A total of 98.83 percent of voters from Sudan's oil-producing south chose to
secede from the north in last month's referendum, the chairman of the vote's
organising commission Mohammed Ibrahim Khalil said.
The formal announcement in Khartoum was disrupted by one northern woman who
began wailing in grief and was led from the room. "Sudan is one country. Why
should it separate?" she told journalists, saying she had relatives in the
south.
The referendum is the climax of a 2005 north-south peace accord that set out
to end Africa's longest civil war and instil democracy in a country that
straddles the continent's Arab-sub Saharan divide.
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir earlier said he accepted the
result, allaying fears that the split could reignite conflict over the
control of the south's oil reserves.
"Today we received these results and we accept and welcome these results
because they represent the will of the southern people," he said in an
address on state TV.
Southern officials say the question of a name for the new state is
unresolved but it could become just "South Sudan".
South Sudan's leader Salva Kiir added to the conciliatory mood by promising
he would help Khartoum campaign for the forgiveness of the country's
crippling debts and the easing of international trade sanctions in coming
months.
Both sides avoided major outbreaks of violence over the past five years. But
they failed to overcome decades of deep mutual distrust to persuade
southerners to embrace unity.
"Southern Sudanese are a new people now. We have a new identity. We have
respect from everyone at last. Our country has come today," said Rebecca
Maluk, a war widow and mother-of-three in the crowd in Juba.
CIVIL WAR
Many southerners see the vote as a chance to end years of northern
repression, which they say stretches back through years of civil war to
19th-century raids by slave traders.
The European Union was among the first to say it accepted the results of the
referendum.
"The EU looks forward to further developing a close and long term
partnership with Southern Sudan which is set to become a new state ... in
July 2011," the bloc's representative in Sudan, Carlo de Filippi, said.
President Barack Obama said the United States intends to recognise South
Sudan as a sovereign country in July.
"After decades of conflict, the images of millions of southern Sudanese
voters deciding their own future was an inspiration to the world and another
step forward in Africa's long journey toward justice and democracy," he said
in a statement.
The U.S State Department said it is initiating the process to remove Sudan
from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list, but stressed it would only
be dropped if it met all criteria under U.S. law.
Pagan Amum, secretary general of the south's dominant Sudan People's
Liberation Movement (SPLM) told reporters: "It has shown that the people of
South Sudan were ready and capable to determine their own future."
The West's hands may be tied by the continuing global uproar over Sudan's
separate Darfur conflict. Bashir is still living under the threat of arrest
warrants issued by the International Criminal Court over charges he
orchestrated genocide in Darfur.
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, weighed
down by the huge costs of its army and civil service wage bills.
The north is mired in its own economic crisis, marked by soaring inflation.
A series of small street protests, in part inspired by uprisings in Tunisia
and neighbouring Egypt, has increased political pressure on Khartoum, as has
the prospect of losing the south, seen as a matter of shame to some
northerners.
The challenges were underlined over the weekend when soldiers in the
southern town of Malakal mutinied, killing at least 50 people, after
refusing to redeploy north with their weapons as part of preparations for
the split.
Malakal has seen north-south clashes since the end of the civil war, a
conflict that killed 2 million people and destabilised the whole region,
flooding it with refugees.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Heavens and Khaled Abdelaziz in Khartoum and
Jeremy Clarke in Juba; writing by Andrew Heavens; editing by Michael Roddy)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
Q&A-Is south Sudan ready for independence?
Mon Feb 7, 2011 3:21pm GMT
By Jeremy Clarke
JUBA, Sudan Feb 7 (Reuters) - Southern Sudanese have reacted to years of
civil war by voting almost unanimously to secede from the north, sealing its
fate as the world's newest nation.
The region was devastated by three decades of civil war but is rich in
resources. Under a 2005 peace deal the former rebel Sudan People's
Liberation Movement (SPLM) has ruled the south with a high degree of
autonomy, helped by billions of dollars in donor funding and oil revenues.
Southern officials say the question of a name for the new state is
unresolved but it could become just "South Sudan".
But can the south survive as an independent state?
Here are some questions and answers.
WHAT WILL CHANGE?
Some analysts say little will change after the vote.
"Currently, the southern government has a lot of operational independence.
It has its own legislature, its own security forces and control over an
unprecedented amount of government wealth due to oil revenues," said Marc
Gustafson, a Sudan scholar at Oxford University.
The south also has its own laws and constitution.
Many southern officials expect continued economic coordination with the
north as it will take time to unravel the two economies.
A U.N. peacekeeping mission (UNMIS) will remain in the south to help
maintain security and possibly monitor the disputed north-south border.
Analysts estimate some 5 million northern and southern Sudanese have
livelihoods which straddle the north-south border. That will continue as
leaders from both sides have promised a soft border.
But the south will have to cope with an influx of hundreds of thousands of
southerners who have lived for decades in the north. The newcomers will deal
with linguistic and cultural differences and adapt to farming -- the only
viable livelihood in rural areas -- meaning they could be a financial burden
on the state for some time.
WILL THE SOUTH BE DEMOCRATIC?
The SPLM says it fought for decades against the north for human rights and
democracy, but since taking power in the south it has not consistently
promoted those values as the former guerrillas struggled to become a
functioning government.
Disputes over last year's elections turned violent as widespread
intimidation during the voting angered independent candidates, some of whom
took up arms against Juba.
The SPLM also formed what it called a "technical" commission for the south's
new constitution ahead of wider political talks. But this raised suspicions
from some opposition that they may not be serious about allowing wider
political participation post secession.
South Sudan's journalists are also fearful as no media law has been passed
yet, leaving them vulnerable. They disagree with a proposed draft which
prevents reporters investigating government corruption.
The SPLM must live up to promises for an inclusive post-secession government
and to hold fresh elections to garner donor support and avoid further
violence.
IS THE SOUTH ECONOMICALLY VIABLE?
The landlocked south relies on oil revenues for 98 percent of its budget
revenues, but the two sides have not yet agreed on future shares of the oil
wealth. Some 75 percent of the oil is in the south, but the infrastructure
entirely in the north, so oil flows and revenues depend on good bilateral
ties.
The international community has already spent billions of dollars on
developing the south and will go to great lengths to prevent it from
becoming a failed state.
But billions more will be needed to sustain development in the south, which
still has little infrastructure and just 60 km (40 miles) of asphalt roads
in the region the size of France.
In return they will want an open, pluralistic, transparent government. The
spread of graft through all levels of government is a discouraging signal.
Private enterprise is severely limited, partly by a lack of infrastructure.
Risk-averse investors will be wary of insecurity and corruption in the
south. Daring businessmen will expect massive rewards.
It will likely take months post July 9 for the south to achieve membership
of multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the IMF to be eligible
for much-needed concessional loans to build infrastructure. Southern
Sudanese will need to be patient to see their new nation emerge.
CAN THE SOUTH MAINTAIN SECURITY?
The still-disputed north-south border remains a stumbling block and local
clashes could become bigger conflicts. Both sides' leaders have until now
been quick to stamp out trouble.
The central Abyei region is also still claimed by both sides and many
believe it will remain the major flashpoint.
The U.N. peacekeeping force is helping to train south Sudan's police, but
have been unable to prevent tribal clashes.
A south-south reconciliation and amnesty for armed groups has borne fruit as
no southern leader wants to look like a spoiler during independence
celebrations.
But many fear the loss of a common enemy in the north will bring old ethnic
rivalries to the surface. Southerners remain heavily armed and tribal
clashes have been costly since 2005.
The Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) still stages cross-border
attacks, displacing thousands and halting farming projects in the south's
most fertile belt.
The south has started an air force, which it says it will use to target the
LRA and other southern militias. The southern army and police must widen
their reach to rural areas to maintain stability.
(Writing by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Giles Elgood)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
Obama says US to recognize South Sudan as sovereign
Mon Feb 7, 2011 9:00pm GMT
(Recasts with quotes from Obama)
WASHINGTON Feb 7 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday the
United States intends to recognize South Sudan as a sovereign country in
July, as Washington began the process of removing Sudan from a terrorism
blacklist.
"After decades of conflict, the images of millions of southern Sudanese
voters deciding their own future was an inspiration to the world and another
step forward in Africa's long journey toward justice and democracy," Obama
said in a statement.
"Now, all parties have a responsibility to ensure that this historic moment
of promise becomes a moment of lasting progress," he said.
The people of South Sudan voted overwhelmingly to declare independence in
final results of a referendum announced on Monday, opening the door to
Africa's newest state and a fresh period of uncertainty for the fractured
region.
Obama said a peace agreement must be implemented fully.
"At the same time, there must be an end to attacks on civilians in Darfur
and a definitive end to that conflict," he said.
The United States would work with the governments of Sudan and Southern
Sudan to ensure a smooth and peaceful transition to independence, he said.
"For those who meet all of their obligations, there is a path to greater
prosperity and normal relations with the United States, including examining
Sudan's designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism," he said.
"And while the road ahead will be difficult, those who seek a future of
dignity and peace can be assured that they will have a steady partner and
friend in the United States."
Presence on the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list bars a country from
receiving U.S. arms exports, controls sales of items with military and
civilian applications, limits U.S. aid and requires Washington to vote
against loans to the country from international financial institutions.
The U.S. State Department said it is initiating the process to remove Sudan
from the state sponsors of terrorism list but stressed it would only be
dropped if it met all criteria under U.S. law.
"Removal of the state sponsor of terrorism designation will take place if
and when Sudan meets all criteria spelled out in U.S. law, including not
supporting international terrorism for the preceding six months and
providing assurance it will not support such acts in the future, and fully
implements the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including reaching a
political solution on Abyei and key post-referendum arrangements," U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Arshad Mohammed)
C Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
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