Israel cuts off special dialogue with Britain

Southern Sudan to vote for separation or unity
JUBA, Sudan (AP) — Separation or unity. A solitary hand or two clasped together. That's the choice — and the ballot image — for close to 4 million Registered Voters in Southern Sudan beginning Sunday, when a seven-day Referendum on separation from Africa's biggest country begins. The vote, which is likely to lead to the world's newest nation, is the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended a north-south Civil War that lasted two decades and killed 2 million people. Organizing...

U.N. decries Sudan press curbs, arrests ahead vote
Geneva | Thu Jan 6, 2011 7:54am EST Geneva (Reuters) - Sudanese authorities have restricted Press Freedom and made arbitrary arrests ahead of a Referendum on Sunday expected to endorse Secession by south Sudan, the United Nations Human Rights chief said on Thursday. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, a former U.N. War Crimes judge, also voiced concern that some Sudanese officials had made inflammatory remarks about the future of more than 1.5 million southerners living in the nor...

All 'on track' for south Sudan vote: UN
Preparations for south Sudan's independence Referendum are "on track" ahead of Sunday's historic vote, the head of United Nations peacekeepers in the south says. "Everything appears to be on track for the region's 2638 polling centres, which are scheduled to open at 8am (1600 AEDT) on January 9," said David Gressly, head of the United Nations Mission to Sudan in the south. "The many sceptics who never thought southern Sudan would be ready to hold its Referendum by next Sunday were proven wrong,"...

Sudan still not agreed to bigger UN force: official
United Nations | Thu Jan 6, 2011 3:25pm EST United Nations (Reuters) - Sudan still has not agreed to a U.N. plan to increase its Peacekeeping force there by 20 percent, as the African nation heads into a Referendum that could split it in two, the U.N. Peacekeeping chief said on Thursday. Sudan's U.N. ambassador said there was no need for the proposed addition of 2,000 Troops to the 10,000-strong force, which monitors compliance with a 2005 deal that ended a Civil War between north and south S...

All 'on track' for south Sudan vote: UN
Preparations for south Sudan?s independence Referendum are "on track" with just three days to go before the historic vote, the head of United Nations peacekeepers in the south said on Thursday. "Everything appears to be on track for the region's 2,638 polling centres, which are scheduled to open at 8 am (0500 GMT) on January 9," said David Gressly, head of the United Nations Mission to Sudan in the south. "The many sceptics who never thought southern Sudan would be ready to hold its Referendum b...

Sudan immigrants in U.S. to vote on independence
NASHVILLE — Thousands of Southern Sudanese immigrants will cast votes in eight U.S. cities starting Sunday to decide whether their region of the country will part ways with northern Sudan and its government. At stake is whether Africa will see its first new country form in more than 20 years while avoiding the kind of violence that has seen Sudan fight two bloody Civil Wars since it won independence from the United Kingdom in 1956. Polling will take place through Jan. 15 in Boston, Chicago,...

Divorce settlement
Can Sudan's Oil feed north and south? Sudan: Set for Divorce? One country or two? Oil has fuelled conflict in Sudan, and rapid growth in the northern heartland of Africa's biggest country, as the 4x4s purring past shining Skyscrapers in the capital, Khartoum, suggest. But now southerners seem certain to choose independence in Sunday's Referendum - and when they go they will take most of Sudan's Oil with them. "The most important thing about southern Secession is what w...

Sudan set for historic vote to split
Separation or unity. A solitary hand or two clasped together. That's the choice - and the ballot image - for nearly four million Registered Voters in Southern Sudan beginning this Sunday, when a seven-day Referendum on Secession from Africa's biggest country begins. • Campaigning in Juba, the main town in the south, which goes to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to secede. Picture: Getty The vote, which is likely to lead to the world's newest nation, is the culmination of a 2005 ADVERT...

South Sudan truce precedes historic vote
JUBA, Sudan, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Backers of a breakaway Sudanese general said they supported a South Sudan measure of Secession as a cease-fire was signed with the government in Juba. Military leaders with the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army signed the cease-fire with supporters of breakaway Gen. George Athor, who allegedly was backed by the government in Khartoum. Athor, a former top-ranking official in the SPLA, fought against government forces after losing an election in April 2010. Brig. Gen. Mic...

1 hand or 2? S. Sudan to vote on unity, split
FILE-- In this Tuesday Jan.4 2011 file photo, Pro-separation Activists hold signs and chant pro-independence slogans outside the Juba airport in southern Sudan where Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived. Separation or unity. A solitary hand or two of them clasped together. That's the choice _ and the ballot image _ that close to 4 million Registered Voters in Southern Sudan will face beginning Sunday, when a seven-day Referendum on separation from the Khartoum-based north begins. The vote C...

South Sudan: Independence beckons
But previously restive border provinces have remained quiet, at least by local standards. Two villagers were killed and four injured in an attack four days before Christmas by the Lord’s Resistance Army, a vicious Ugandan rebel movement that haunts the south-western borderlands and was at one time supported by the north to weaken the south. Incidents of violence have persisted here and there but have been isolated and contained. Foreign Diplomats and southern Sudanese leaders are scratchi...

Analysis: Aid needed to bridge north-south divide
After south Sudan votes as expected to secede from the north, leaders of both countries must still resolve a daunting range of practical issues if they are to prevent a return to violence. Exactly how the two countries will begin to disentangle is far from clear. Even the name of south Sudan has not been decided. Suggestions include New Sudan, Equatoria, Juwama or the Nile Republic. The creation of two new states raises problems ADVERTISEMENT that are far too sensitive to be leveraged off wit...

Dangerous precedent?
Will Sudan split set an African precedent? Sudan: Set for Divorce? One country or two? On Sunday the people of Southern Sudan will vote on whether to become an independent nation. There is every indication they will vote in favour of cutting their links with Khartoum and become Africa's 54th state. BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut considers whether this will increase demands from other African regions for independence. The slogan adopted by the Africa Union - the body representing the cont...

Sudan Dispatch: Will Oil Keep the Peace?
Bentiu, Sudan—Two days ago, President Omar Al Bashir made what is likely to be his last visit to Juba, the southern capital, as the head of a unified Sudan. Promising to be “the first to recognize the south” if southerners vote for independence in this weekend’s Referendum, Al Bashir’s conciliatory tone left people here scratching their heads about his real intentions. Mistrust of his ruling National Congress party is intense in the south, and, until last week, off...

1 hand or 2? S. Sudan to vote on unity, split
JUBA, Sudan - Close to 4 million voters in Southern Sudan will face the choice between separation or unity beginning Sunday, when a seven-day Referendum on separation from the Khartoum-based north begins. Their ballot option will be a solitary hand or two clasped together. The vote, which is likely to lead to the creation of the world's newest country, is the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended 20-plus years of north-south Civil War. Actor George Clooney arrived in Juba, Southern S...

Stopping a Genocide Before it Starts.
Mark Goldberg says the international anti-genocide movement that began in the wake of Darfur could prevent the next crisis in Sudan. On Jan. 9, South Sudanese citizens will head to the polls to vote on a Referendum to determine if South Sudan will become a country independent from the rest of Sudan. That the southerners will overwhelmingly vote for independence is not in doubt -- the south fought a 20-year Civil War against the Sudanese central government that ended in 2005. Popular sentiment i...

Report: Sudan must be more open about oil
KHARTOUM, Sudan, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Sudan needs to be more transparent about its Oil Production and revenues to help preserve peace, the Watchdog organization Global Witness said. The group said suspicion over how Oil revenue is shared has developed mistrust between the north and south and could result in a Civil War, the BBC reported. Most of Sudan's Oil comes from wells in the south but most of its infrastructure is in the north. Global Witness said both sides should agree on a more transparent ...

A failed state before it's born? Inside the capital of the world's next nation
Juba's main landmark is making itself redundant. A digital clocktower that sprouts from the city's central roundabout counts down the remaining days, minutes and hours of the five years from the peace deal that ended the Civil War to the Referendum on Secession. On Sunday the display will reach zero and the south of Sudan will begin voting in a process expected to create a new country and put the defunct clock at the centre of the world's newest capital city. There is little doubt that the re...

1 hand or 2? S. Sudan to vote on unity, split
JUBA, Sudan (AP) — Close to 4 million voters in Southern Sudan will face the choice between separation or unity beginning Sunday, when a seven-day Referendum on separation from the Khartoum-based north begins. Their ballot option will be a solitary hand or two clasped together. The vote, which is likely to lead to the creation of the world’s newest country, is the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended 20-plus years of north-south Civil War. Actor George Clooney arrived in Juba,...

Obama's Southern Sudan Policy
, (part of which was International Aid money to the Palestinian Refugees) received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, just because he promised "peace." Is Bashir next? Last week, in its end of the year report, Israel's Security Agency detailed Sudan's on-going facilitation of transshipment of Iranian weapons to Hamas. Clearly, the 2009 U.S. warning failed to deter the Sudanese government. Days before the Referendum, there are two unknowns: will Bashir accept the results, and judging by the...

Southern Sudan: Drawing Citizenship Boundaries
If as expected Southern Sudan votes to secede in this weekend’s Referendum, territorial boundaries should be drawn neatly enough.  Boundaries of human community may be more difficult. At issue is the status of southerners resident in the north and vice versa.  The risk is that these individuals won’t end up with Citizenship in their place of residence, making them vulnerable to Discrimination.  One Sudanese official, for instance, remarked that southerners present in t...

Stopping a Genocide Before It Starts
Omar al-Bashir, president of the Republic of Sudan (AP Photo/Pete Muller) On Jan. 9, South Sudanese citizens will head to the polls to vote on a Referendum to determine if South Sudan will become a country independent from the rest of Sudan. That the southerners will overwhelmingly vote for independence is not in doubt -- the south fought a 20-year Civil War against the Sudanese central government that ended in 2005. Popular sentiment is clearly in favor of autonomy. What is still unknown is ...

Germany closes 4,700 farms in dioxin scare
Germany shut down more than 4,700 farms and related businesses after tests showed animal feed had been contaminated by a Cancer-causing chemical. "4,709 farms and businesses are currently closed," including 4,468 in the state of Lower Saxony, northwest Germany, the agriculture ministry said in a statement late on Thursday. The farms will be closed until they are found to be clear of contamination by dioxin, a Toxic Chemical compound that can cause cancer, and will not be allowed to make any deli...

Dioxin scare closes 4700 farms in Germany
Regional authorities in Germany have ordered the closure of 4709 farms across the country following a scare over dioxin contamination, the agriculture ministry says. Most of the farms involved were in Lower Saxony, northwest Germany, and most of them were ones raising pigs, the ministry said in a statement. Until the farms had been checked and found to be clear of contamination, they would not be allowed to make any deliveries. It was in Lower Saxony that 2500 out of the 3000 tonnes of contamina...

Eggs reach UK from Germany in dioxin alert
Eggs from German farms affected by an alert over dioxin contamination in animal feed have entered Britain in processed products destined for human food, the EU executive said on Thursday. German authorities said this week that up to 3,000 tonnes of animal feed contaminated with highly toxic dioxin was sent to Poultry and hog farms, and eggs from some of the farms were then exported to the Netherlands for processing. Operations at around 4,700 German farms have been preemptively closed, mostl...