South Sudan prepares for independence vote

Southern Sudanese will go to the polls on Sunday to decide on whether their largely Christian, oil-rich region should split from the mainly Muslim north.

The vote is part of a 2005 peace deal which ended a 22 year civil war: Africa’s longest.

The fighting killed two million people and left another four million displaced.

Even the south backs independence, Khartoum will be keen to retain as much of the oil revenues as possible.

The oil fields in the south account for 70 percent of the country’s total output.

It’s why some in the north are keen to keep Sudan unified as one nation.

“Unity is better than secession, which is like a cancer. If it infects the body, it will damage all the other parts,” said one Khartoum resident.

President Omar al-Bashir has vowed to honour the result of the referendum.

Sixty percent of the 4 million people registered must take part for it to be valid.

In the case of a split, Bashir says he will implement a far stricter interpretation of Islamic law, known as Sharia.

That could prompt more southerners to leave the north and return home.

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