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| Africa Horn | |
| Sudan passes law on south independence vote | |
| 2009-12-30 | |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] The Sudanese parliament adopted a key law paving the way for a promised 2011 referendum on southern independence Tuesday after northern and southern leaders struck a deal on a disputed article. The new version of the law approved by MPs includes a provision demanded by southern politicians that requires diaspora southerners to cast their ballots in the south.
The United States had said it was "deeply concerned" that the earlier text had been stripped of the wording previously agreed with southern politicians. Analysts believe that the referendum in January 2011 will almost inevitably lead to southern Sudan voting to separate from the north, with which it fought a civil war that cost the lives of two million people. Delays in implementing the 2005 peace deal that capped more than two decades of conflict pushed the former foes into a political collision over the law. | |
| Posted by:Fred |