South Sudan: 99 Percent There

The 11 January plebiscite conducted in South Sudan concluded, when all the votes were turned in, ninety-nine percent (99%) in favor of the South separating from the North. According to the UN brokered peace agreement five-years ago, South Sudan will become an independent state based on this vote in July 2011. As might be expected, there are reports of violence along the dividing border between north and south where unsettled arrangements involving the Sudan Armed Forces of the north as it began withdrawing from the South.

According to McClatchy reporter Alan Boswell the fighting began in highly productive oil fields that will become part of South Sudan.  The fighting began by southern-born soldiers in the Sudanese Army who fought in the wars against the South. They had been integrated into the Sudanese Armed Forces coming from militias along the dividing boarder. Fighting had ceased by Saturday.