Summary
15 November 2010
Work has begun in Sudan to start voter registration before a referendum on independence for the south of the country. However, there are many other issues to be sorted out following the north south peace agreement in 2005.
Reporter:
Mark Doyle
Sudanese President Salva Kiir
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Report
The long war in Sudan has left the south economically backward. But after successfully using military force to get the north to the negotiating table, southern politicians are now looking forward to the vote on southern independence.
The trouble is that virtually every issue beyond the agreement to have a referendum remains unresolved. The two sides haven't agreed on the exact position of the border between north and south. This would be important in any negotiation between territories. But in Sudan, it's critical because the border area is the very place where disputed oilfields lie. The two sides haven't agreed how to share out the oil revenues. This side to the dispute is so serious that the south is thinking of building its own pipeline to export oil to the coast. Significantly, the plan is for the new pipeline to go through Kenya, an ally of the southern Sudanese, bypassing the current pipeline in the north.
Another area of disagreement is how to share out the debt of the country in the event of independence for the south. Southerners will resist taking on any of this debt because virtually none of it was spent on developing their areas, and quite a lot of it was used to buy weapons to attack them.
Mark Doyle, Â鶹Éç News
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Vocabulary
- economically backward
old-fashioned or ineffective in financial matters
- military force
the power and strength of an army negotiating table
- negotiating table
place where people meet to try and resolve disagreements
- looking forward to
anticipating
- the trouble is
the main problem or challenge is
- virtually
nearly or almost
- territories
land or regions owned by a particular government, which are sometimes disputed
- this side to the dispute
one aspect of or one part of a disagreement
- bypassing
avoiding or missing out
- in the event of
if a possible future situation happens
