Good luck to this new nation which has split from the Arab/Muslim Sudan.
by Madeleine Morgenstern
South Sudan raised the flag of its new nation for the first time Saturday, as thousands of South Sudanese citizens and dozens of international dignitaries swarmed the new country capital of Juba to celebrate the country’s birth.
South Sudan became the world’s newest country Saturday with a raucous street party at midnight. At a packed mid-day ceremony, the speaker of parliament read a proclamation of independence as the flag of Sudan was lowered and the flag of South Sudan was raised, sparking wild cheers from the crowd.
“Hallelujah!” one resident yelled, as other wiped away tears.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and dozens of other world leaders were in attendance under a blazing sun as South Sudan President Salva Kiir hosted the noon-hour ceremony. Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, a deeply unpopular man in Juba, arrived to a mixture of boos and surprised murmurs.
“Wow, this is a great day for me because it’s a day that reflects the suffering that all southerners have had for almost 50 years,” said David Aleu, a 24-year-old medical student.
Thousands of South Sudan residents thronged the celebration area, and organizers soon learned they did not have enough seats for all the visiting heads of state and other VIPs. The heat was strong enough that Red Cross workers attended to many people who fainted.
“We’re overwhelmed. We did not know that the whole world was going to join us in our celebration,” the ceremony’s announcer said.
The black African tribes of South Sudan and the mainly Arab north battled two civil wars over more than five decades, and some 2 million died in the latest war, from 1983-2005. It culminated in a 2005 peace deal that led to Saturday’s independence declaration.
Thousands of South Sudanese poured into the ceremonial arena when gates opened. Traditional dancers drummed in the streets as residents waved tiny flags. Activists from the western Sudan region of Darfur, which has suffered heavy violence the past decades, held up a sign that said “Bashir is wanted dead or alive.” Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur.
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Read the rest – Celebration: South Sudan splits from the North, becomes independent nation
