"Today we shall raise the flag of South Sudan to join the nations of the
world," said Pagan Amum, the secretary general of the ruling Sudan
People's Liberation Movement, speaking at the base of a giant flagpole after
independence was declared.
Celebrations were not dimmed by the daunting problems faced by South
Sudan, born as one of the poorest and most war-ravaged nations on
Earth despite massive, under-developed oil resources.
From early morning, thousands started to arrive at the official venue of
Saturday's celebrations in the capital Juba, singing songs and carrying
flags. Bells rang out in churches as midnight arrived, the moment of
independence. The streets of the dusty city on banks of the White Nile were
patrolled by heavily-armed soldiers.
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, was among the dignitaries due to attend
a historic ceremony, along with 30 African leaders and senior Western
officials.
"I have not slept all night, we have been dancing and singing and
praising God all night for this our independence," said Mary Ajah, 28,
who spent the evening with her congregation at her Protestant church in
Juba, the capital.
"Not since Adam and Eve walked the Earth have South Sudanese had freedom,
until today."
Valentino Achak Deng, a former refugee from the war, said: "Really in my
heart what makes me happiest is that from today, when people ask me where I
am from, I do not have to say Sudan."
"Before, we were associated in statehood with the very people trying to
exterminate us." South Sudan's independence comes exactly six months
after a referendum in which predominantly Christian southerners voted almost
unanimously to split with their former civil war enemies in the north of
Sudan, which is mostly Muslim.
For decades, until a peace agreement was signed in 2005, southern rebels
fought a series of wars with the north, leaving the region in ruins, two
million dead and a legacy of mutual mistrust.
Military parades, prayers and a performance of the new national anthem were
due early in the morning, followed by the declaration of independence, the
raising of the Republic of South Sudan's flag and the swearing of an oath of
office by the new country's first president, Salva Kiir.
Southern officials have said the chief guest of honour at the celebrations
would be Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, the south's old enemy and a
leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of
crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur.
Alain Juppe, the French Foreign Minister, has already said he will try to
avoid an encounter with Mr Bashir at the independence ceremony.
But Sudan was among the first countries to officially recognise the fledgling
nation, which needs all the help it can get to overcome the vast challenges
of building a stable and prosperous future.
Northern and southern leaders have still not agreed on a list of issues, most
importantly the line of the border and how they will handle oil revenues,
the lifeblood of both economies. Sudan, which was Africa's biggest nation
until midnight on Friday, has lost much of its oil reserves to the new
nation.
The Nuba Mountains on the border between Sudan and the new nation has recently
been the scene of deadly clashes between northern troops and pro-southern
militia. The United Nations Security Council voted on Friday to establish a
force of up to 7,000 peacekeepers for South Sudan.
