South
Sudan was born as one of the most impoverished countries on the
planet at independence from greater Sudan on Saturday.
But there are fewer than 50 miles of paved road across territory larger than
France, less than 500 doctors, and more mothers die in childbirth here than
anywhere else.
"Much basic infrastructure and many services simply do not exist,"
Mr Hague said.
"The humanitarian situation is shocking and tens of thousands of people
have been forced from their homes by fighting in the last few months alone."
A new British embassy in Juba, South Sudan's capital, and its affiliated
Department for International Development office would oversee a focus on
boosting the private sector, its political structures and its rule of law.
Mr Hague added that he was "optimistic" because South Sudan has
mineral resources and vast areas of untapped agricultural land.
It was crucial, however, that the government in Juba used the goodwill of its
newly-won independence to forge fresh and friendly relations with its former
civil war enemy in Sudan and its administration in Khartoum, the north's
capital.
Its president, Omar al-Bashir, is wanted for genocide and war crimes for his
alleged role in fighting in Darfur, in Sudan's west.
"We want Khartoum to be a factor for stability in a region that has seen
suffered too long from conflict," Mr Hague said.
"We urge the Government of Sudan to bring the conflict in Darfur to an
end, to co-operate with the International Criminal Court over the indictment
of President Bashir, and to play a constructive role towards its new
neighbour and in the region as a whole."
Sudan's north and south fought Africa's longest civil war. The 2005 peace deal
which brought conflict to a close led to Saturday's secession.
