David Cameron expressed the hope that its creation would prove the start of "a
new and peaceful chapter" and President Barack Obama declared: "Today
is a reminder that after the darkness of war, the light of a new dawn is
possible."
Thousands gathered in central Juba, the new capital, to celebrate as the new
flag was raised for the first time before an array of visiting foreign
dignitaries - including Presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Meles Zenawi
of Ethiopia and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, all criticised by human
rights groups.
Also present was the president of Sudan,
Omar al-Bashir, who urged Washington to remove sanctions from his country
now that the south had peacefully won independence. Mr al-Bashir, wanted for
genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal Court, said the former
enemies had a mutual interest to progress.
"We fulfil our commitment to help the new state of South
Sudan in its first steps, because we want it to succeed, and because
its success will be our success," he said, urging that US sanctions,
imposed due to his regime's alleged links to terrorists, should now be
scrapped.
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir offered an amnesty to armed groups fighting
his government, and promised to bring peace to troubled border areas.
Addressing the ceremony, William Hague, the foreign secretary, called on both
sides to resolve the "considerable challenges" which remained.
"We urge the leaders of both countries to maintain their commitment to
the continuing negotiations, which are essential to building a lasting peace
for all the peoples of both Sudans," he said.
"It represents the triumph of peaceful negotiation over conflict and
adversity, and is a moment of hope and optimism for the future."
North and south Sudan fought Africa's longest civil war, but the former
enemies signed a peace deal in 2005 which eventually led to Saturday's
independence.
Few had slept the night before as impromptu street parties rolled until dawn,
church groups prayed energetically, and workers toiled to complete
preparations for the day's historic events.
But as the sun rose into a clear sky already hazy with heat, there were few
signs of fatigue as the South Sudan readied to declare the independence for
which it spend decades fighting.
Convoys of polished four-wheel-drives disgorged dignitaries at the
hastily-constructed VIP stands, as bare-chested warriors smeared with red
paint stomped and women in bright bead belts and cowskin skirts danced.
"There was no way that we were going to sleep last night," said Col
David Ateny, 39, as he sat in the shade waiting for the ceremonies to start
on Saturday morning.
"All of us here, we had too much happiness to lay our heads down on our
pillows. You can see my eyes are red from lack of sleep, but I will tell
you, in my heart I have energy to dance for many days."
Col Ateny, like hundreds of thousands of people across the world's newest
nation, was a bush fighter during Africa's longest civil war, between
Sudan's majority Christian south and its Muslim north.
What he and his comrades fought and died for was the power to determine their
own fate, as a state independent from the heavy and repressive hand of the
Arab regime in the northern capital, Khartoum.
"My father died in that fighting," said Mary Ajah, Col Ateny's wife,
sat beside him in a bright white and silver dress and shoes bought last week
for the occasion.
"All of us here, we lost someone who gave their lives so that what is
happening to us today could happen. Many of us think, really, that it is a
dream to be here today."
Col Ateny and Mrs Ajah were among tens of thousands of South Sudanese who
gathered in what many were already calling Independence Square in central
Juba.
Inevitably, the programme ran late. There were not enough chairs for the
hundreds of foreign delegates, forcing the entire senior command of the
Sudan People's Liberation Army to give up their seats and stand in the heat.
Convoys grew in length and muscle. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's
stretched for 22 vehicles including a Mercedes truck converted, apparently,
into a 4x4 mobile home in case His Excellency needed some emergency sleep.
Among the busiest officials were the South Sudan Red Cross, who ran back and
forth stretchering fainting spectators out of the 35 degree crush and into
the rare shade.
None of the hitches, however, dampened spirits.
At a little past 1.30pm, a huge cheer swept the crowd as South Sudan's new
national anthem was sung and the new national flag was raised on a 100ft
pole locals proudly - and likely erroneously - claimed was the tallest in
Africa.
The Republic of South Sudan will essentially be born on the life-support
machine of international aid, despite oil and mineral wealth and the
potential of its fertile agricultural land to feed the East African region.
Illiteracy rates, proportions of doctors to patients, teacher-pupil ratios and
maternal mortality figures are all so bad as to be almost off the bottom of
development indices.
Britain is one of the largest bilateral donors with an annual international
development spend approaching f90 million.
The US is using millions of its aid training soldiers and reforming the army.
The EU, UN and regional development bodies all staff large offices in Juba.
It is impossible to say how much of South Sudan's f1.5 billion annual budget
will be drawn from aid receipts as almost all of them are currently
funnelled elsewhere due to fears of endemic corruption in the government.
Some 97 per cent of its annual earnings, however, come from oil exports from
the oilfields which lie in border areas it is still contesting with Sudan,
its new northern neighbour and former civil war enemy.
There is currently no new contract detailing how the former rivals will share
the oil, which has been split 50-50 since the 2005 peace deal which ended
Sudan's 38-year north-south conflict.
Many in the south argue that, as a sovereign nation, they need not share their
natural resources. But the only way currently to get the crude to markets is
through pipelines and ports in the north.
"If there is no new agreement ready, then there is a very real fear of a
resumption of wider conflict," said Leben Moro, an Oxford-educated
professor specialising in oil and conflict at the University of Juba.
The oil question is one of many still left unanswered - including others on
citizenship and foreign debt - as the sun began to set at the end of South
Sudan's birthday.
"Tomorrow is a new day, and we are a new country ready to face our
challenges on our own feet," said Valentino Achak Deng, one of tens of
thousands of child refugees who fled the war.
"For today, let us party, let us celebrate our accomplishments and show
our gratitude to all those who helped us win this freedom of ours we have
achieved today."
