Independence an uncertain draw for Khartoum southerners

Kiir claims southern Sudan gets less than 25 percent of revenues generated by oil produced from its territory




KHARTOUM — Amid wrangling in parliament over an independence referendum for south Sudan, southerners in the capital Khartoum look forward with enthusiasm to secession, but the prospect unsettles some.

There are about 520,000 south Sudanese -- mostly Christian -- living in the Muslim north, according to a northern government census. The southern government says the figure is much higher.

This population, most of which fled the south during a 22-year civil war with the Muslim north that ended in a 2005 power-sharing agreement, is at the centre of a dispute that saw southern MPs withdraw from parliament this week.

The ruling northern National Congress Party (NCP) pushed a bill in parliament that allowed diaspora southerners, including those in the north, to cast absentee ballots for the 2011 referendum.

The bill, passed after MPs with the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM), the ruling party in the south, staged a walk-out in protest, will be resubmitted to parliament on Monday for a second reading.

The NCP says barring southerners in the north from casting ballots would violate Sudan's interim constitution, which allows freedom of travel in the country.

But southern politicians say the measure opens the way to fraud and pressure on voters.

The majority of southerners are still expected to vote for independence, but in Khartoum they view the referendum with a mixture of optimism and apprehension.

Saber Azaria, 21, a student in Khartoum and the son of a northern father and southern mother, said he would be torn by the partition of the country.

"It will be like having one leg here and the other leg there," he said.

Others, conscious of religious and cultural differences with the north, where Islamic sharia law applies, say they belong to the south.

"In Juba (the southern capital) I feel at home. Here I feel as if I'm in a foreign country," said Kwashi James Amum, a young woman preparing to attend mass at a cathedral in Khartoum.

"We have a different culture, language and religion," she said.

Southerners in Khartoum complain of being treated like second-class citizens. "When I look for work, the first question I am asked is: are you Muslim or Christian?" said Gatwech Mueth Bol, a 27-year old university graduate.

"I spent more than 20 years here in Khartoum but we south Sudanese are not considered true Sudanese," said Anthony Gony, 45, a technician.

Southern politicians also claim that Khartoum has failed their region, which sits on lucrative oil reserves.

SPLM leader Salva Kiir said in November that the south receives less than 25 percent of revenues generated by oil produced from its territory, although the 2005 agreement apportioned 50 percent to the southern government.

Others blame Khartoum for a spate of ethnic killings this year mainly in Jonglei state, where they accuse the NCP of arming and backing local tribes, an allegation Khartoum denies.

The violence has led to concern ahead of general elections next year.

Under the referendum bill passed this week, a simple majority of votes in support of independence would suffice.

But some fear a lurch into an uncertain future. Lisa Peter, 21, says she is drawn to an independent south, yet still finds the prospect "terrifying."

Source:AFP