Thousands queue through night for south Sudan vote

Juba: South Sudan president Salva Kiir hailed an "historic moment" for his people on Sunday as he was among the first to cast his ballot in a referendum on independence for the war-ravaged region.

Thousands of jubilant south Sudanese queued through the night to be among the first to vote on Sunday in the region's landmark independence referendum, according to media reports.

At polling stations across the regional capital Juba, hundreds of voters were waiting well before dawn to seize their opportunity to have their say on whether the impoverished south should break way from rule by Khartoum after five decades of devastating conflict.

"We are standing in the queue to step forward to independence," said David Akol, as he waited with hundreds of others to vote at the memorial to veteran rebel leader John Garang, who died shortly after signing the 2005 peace deal with the Khartoum government that provided for Sunday's vote.

"The day that we have waited for for so long has finally arrived."

Yar Mayon, who grew up in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, said: "I came here in the early morning because I wanted to show just how much I wanted to vote."

"It was so important to me I could not sleep," she said.

Al Bashir voices doubts

Meanwhile, Sudan President Omar Al Bashir said the south is not ready for independence and could face instability as a result.

Al Bashir, in an interview with Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera, said a newly independent state would struggle.

Southern Sudanese are widely expected to deliver a resounding backing for independence from their northern brothers, with whom they fought two long civil wars. Muslims living in Sudan's largely Christian south say they will vote for secession.

"The south suffers from many problems. It's been at war since 1959," he said. "The south does not have the ability to provide for its citizens or create a state or authority."

Almost 4 million people will vote in the referendum, which was enshrined in the 2005 peace deal that brought an end to the 1983-2005 civil war between the mainly Muslim north and Christian and Animist south.

The conflict, Sudan's second civil war, left around 2 million people dead and displaced millions more. Voting in the referendum will start today and last until January 15. For the vote to be valid, a 60 per cent of those registered have to vote.

According to the referendum commission's timetable, preliminary results will be announced on February 1 and the final results are expected by February 14.

Six killed in clashes

Meanwhile, South Sudanese troops killed six renegade militiamen in two days of clashes in a key oil state on the border with the north in the run-up to the vote, the army said on Friday.

"There have been attacks yesterday [Friday]. Two rebels were killed and 26 captured," southern army spokesman Philip Aguer said.

"In other attacks this morning, four rebels were killed and six captured," Aguer added.

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