Mixed feelings after decades of conflict with the north

Khartoum: There is mixed reaction among the people of Khartoum to the independence of South Sudan.

Heralding a new era of freedom, people in the southern part of the largest country in Africa are celebrating the historic moment when South Sudan became the world's newest nation, after decades of conflict with the north.

Many residents in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, consider July 9 as the black day in their lives as well as in the history of their nation. On the other hand, some see this as the happiest day in their lives.

There was a common feeling of sorrow as they said goodbye to loved ones. There were farewell parties where emotions were high at almost all the ministries and government departments in the capital city over the past week.

Tears over the separation were everywhere with the people in the North saying goodbye to those leaving for the South as is inevitable following the division of the country.

Gulf News witnessed the emotional scenes after people of a single nation became citizens of two separate independent sovereign nations overnight.

Tears

When Gulf News asked Angelina Maybour about how she felt about the separation, she was in tears. In fluent Arabic, Maybour, a young woman who was leaving for Juba, the capital of South Sudan to begin a new assignment said: "Yes. A new nation was declared for us. But honestly speaking, I am grief-stricken… I never thought that the South would break away from the North."

Hassan Ali, a student from the North, said: "We are struggling to bid farewell to our brothers from the South with extreme grief and pain. How can we adjust to the new situation after separation from our intimate friends and class mates? Most of the chairs in our classrooms are now vacant," he said.

Hassan Ali continued: "Allah may curse the politicians from both the North and the South for their continuous efforts to tear the country into two pieces even though there are peaceful efforts even to unify the whole world going on," he said.

Those leaving for Juba are doing so in a rush. It is very difficult to get reservations as all flights are full. "Many of my friends did not get hotel rooms for their stay after landing there," Hassan Ali said.

There are thousands of people, who are from South Sudan but are stranded in Khartoum.

Having lost their citizenship, they are uncertain about the future. These include many senior civilian and military officials.

Struggling to adapt

They are struggling to adapt to the new situation, which some of them described as "extraordinary and rare."

Major General Sameer Khumas Sulaiman, one of the most senior police officials in Khartoum said: "I never had the least feeling of becoming a non-Sudanese during my long period of service spanning for about 33 years." But James Ateem expressed his happiness over the very thought of landing in the new independent state.