Bashir Vows Support for South Sudan

Disputes over the border and oil revenue threaten to dampen South Sudan's independence celebrations on Saturday.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir voiced his support for soon-to-be-independent South Sudan today in a televised address. Bashir offered his blessings to his “brothers” in South Sudan, which will secede on Saturday after decades of civil war and divisions with the mostly Muslim north. An overwhelming 98 per cent of South Sudanese voted for secession during referendums held last year, but tensions between the north and south remain over how to split oil revenues. Fighting over two oil-rich towns in recent weeks has forced 170,000 people to flee their homes. Regardless, Bashir has pledged to work through these matters with his South Sudanese counterparts.