Sudan’s Bashir vows to honour referendum result

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has said he will accept the result of Sunday’s referendum on southern independence.

There had been fears that his northern government would block a split; the south accounts for 70 percent of Sudan’s oil output.

“If the vote is for separation, then we will continue to have political, economic and social relations,” Bashir told a crowd in the southern city of Juba.

The referendum was part of a 2005 deal to end a two-decade long civil war between the mainly Muslim north and largely Christian south.

The conflict uprooted an estimated four million people from southern Sudan.

But now many are heading home as the possibility of independence draws ever nearer.

Some are being driven out of Khartoum amid uncertainty over their citizenship rights.

Others are fleeing, fearing possible violence if their fellow southerners decide to split Sudan in two in this weekend’s vote.

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