MSNBC: Sudan — Preliminary results from Southern Sudan’s independence referendum indicate a landslide vote for secession, but turnout exceeded 100 percent in several areas, and a top election official said Sunday that some results were being quarantined. Full report here.
Catholic News Service: Bishop Cesare Mazzolari of Rumbek, the capital of Lakes states, told CNS he was “moved with tears of joy to see the jubilation of the people of Southern Sudan at the referendum.” The bishop, an Italian, added that “at the core” of the referendum was “a quest and a longing for peace that most people elsewhere in the world cannot even begin to imagine because they have not known what these people have suffered.” In 2005, civil war between the predominantly Muslim North and the mainly Christian and animist South ended after almost continuous conflict since 1983 that left 2 million people dead. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the war mandated the independence referendum. This January 18 report is here.
