South Sudan to declare independence Saturday.

TUNIS, July 9 (Itar-Tass) -- Southern Sudan is preparing to declare
its independence from the central government in Khartoum on Saturday. The
ceremony in the capital of the new state, the city of Juba, will gather UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the leaders of 30 African countries,
including South African President Jacob Zuma, the foreign ministers of
France and Britain Alain Juppe and William Hague and other senior
officials.
It is expected that the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, whose
arrest was warranted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague
(ICC) for crimes against humanity committed in Darfur in 2003-2008, will
also take part in the celebrations as guest of honor. With regard to the
new state al-Bashir previously expressed the view that it would be
"self-confident and stable."
Russia will be represented by the special envoy of the Russian
President for cooperation with Africa, chairman of the foreign affairs
committee of the Federation Council Mikhail Margelov. He will deliver a
special message from Dmitry Medvedev to the head of South Sudan Salva Kiir
and discuss with him the possibility of overcoming the crisis in the areas
of Abyei and South Kardofan. Earlier in Khartoum Margelov already
discussed the issue with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The United
States, in turn, sent to Juba its UN ambassador Susan Rice and former
Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The declaration of independence of South Sudan will take place inside
the tomb of the Father of the Nation - the mausoleum of John Garanga. The
founder of the insurgency called the People's Liberation Army of Sudan
died July 30, 2005 in a helicopter crash during his return from Uganda.
The program of celebrations includes a parade of the national armed
forces, as well as the hoisting of the flag of the new state. President
Kiir will initial an interim constitution, which will operate during the
transitional period.
Khartoum has recognized the independence of South Sudan.
"The Republic of Sudan states its recognition of the Republic of South
Sudan as an independent state within the borders of January 1, 1956," the
Minister of Presidential Affairs Major-General Bakri Hassan Saleh said in
a statement.
The event will end the inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflict
between North and South Sudan that has lasted since the 1950s. It was
based on contradictions between the Sudanese Muslim Arabs living in the
north, and the Negroid population of Christian and pagan south. On January
9, 2005 Khartoum and the rebels of the John Garanga-led People's
Liberation Army of Sudan met in Nairobi, Kenya to sign a Comprehensive
Peace Agreement between the North and the South to end the civil war that
had claimed more than two million people lives.
Last January in southern Sudan, in accordance with the CPA, a
referendum was held on self-determination, in which 98.83 percent of the
residents voted for independence of South Sudan from the central
government in Khartoum. Today, this process will achieve its logical
conclusion, and on the world map will emerge another state that by the end
of July will become the 193rd member of the UN.