On Saturday, the South Sudan will become a free and independent country. It is a deserved victory for its people. Under a United States-backed 2005 agreement that ended two decades of civil war, the territory's people voted overwhelmingly Christian mostly in January to separate the Muslim Arab North.
Still, celebrations in the capital, Juba, cannot conceal a truth disappointing: build a new country functional will take decades of hard work. The responsibility lies mainly in southern Sudan, but also in the United States and the international community to guide.
54 State of Africa is at the bottom of the developing world. Most people live on less than $ 1 per day more than 10 per cent of children do not reach the age of 5 years. About 75 percent of adults cannot read.
Meanwhile, bitter disputes between North and South are fueling the chaos in a land already bloodied by two million killed in the civil war. Sudan on Friday became the first State to recognize the southern Sudan. President of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the murderous war in Darfur, said that he would attend the festivities in Juba. But he also said that he would continue the fight that broke out last month against the forces loyal to the South in South Kordofan, a region rich in oil, still under the control of Khartoum. Decision of Mr. Bashir at the request of the United Nations to withdraw from the peace of South Kordofan is deeply worrying.
The main elements of the peace agreement of 2005 were resolved-as to which side will control the oil-rich region of Abyei, where fighting has also broken; citizens protection of minorities; where will the final frontiers. As oil revenues will be shared (South has 70 percent of reserves).?
The two parties are dependent on each other. Needs of southern Sudan of the northern pipeline to get its oil to the market. Sudan needs the oil money to help pay their bills. Both need foreign investment and the North needed debt relief. They have a better chance to win international support if they are in peace.
As an incentive, the United States and its partners have offered to convene an International Conference in September to southern Sudan. It will allow the southern Sudanese leaders present their plans for the promotion of private investment needed desperately. Washington gave Juba 300 million dollars to education and housing and promises more. International assistance should only move the southern Sudan constructively work with Khartoum to bring stability to both countries.
The Obama administration, correctly, is not taking off Sudan its terrorism list and the normalisation of relations unless it is in accordance with the peace agreement in Khartoum and end the conflict in Darfur. China, the Sudan oil investor and main supplier of arms, should deliver a similar message to Mr. Bashir, who is accused of war crimes, rather received with fanfare in Beijing and offers promising new oil. The international community must convince both sides to avoid war and to work to build a future for two Sudans.
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