Newsgroup: it.cultura.religioni.cristiani
Titolo: RS - Il voto del Sudan meridionale

Southern Sudan votes on independence
9 January 2011 Last updated at 08:45 GMT
Woman celebrates after voting
There is a carnival atmosphere at some polling stations
Huge numbers of people are voting in Southern Sudan in a landmark
referendum on independence from the north.
The week-long vote is widely expected to result in Africa's largest
country being split in two.
Amid scenes of jubilation, south Sudanese leader Salva Kiir said: "This is
an historic moment the people of Southern Sudan have been waiting for."
The poll was agreed as part of the 2005 peace deal which ended the
two-decade north-south civil war.
The leaders of the mainly Muslim north have promised to allow the
potential new country, where most people are Christian or follow
traditional religions, to secede peacefully.
But President Omar al-Bashir has warned an independent south would face
instability.
Many people queued up to vote long before polls opened.
"My vote is for my mother and father, and my brothers and sisters who were
murdered in the war," Abraham Parnyang told the BBC as he waited to vote
in the southern capital, Juba.
"I also vote for my children-to-be - if God grants me that - so that they
can grow up in a south Sudan that is free and is at peace."
The queue is growing underneath a huge mango tree here. People came here
very early, before the polls opened. An old woman has just walked in with
a walking stick and has been helped to the front of the queue.
There were prayers before the polls opened - people prayed for peace and
they prayed for this vote to lead to independence. Many here in the queue
have told me how they suffered during the 22 years of war and that has fed
their desire to break away and form a new country.
Today as they vote, there is a cheerful mood and a feeling among the
villagers that this is the final push for freedom.
Another voter, 36-year-old soldier Mawien Mabut, said he had "seen the
inside of war so we have to stop the war now".
"We are very happy the Arabs are going away," he told the Associated Press.
Southern Sudan has high levels of illiteracy so voters are faced with two
symbols on the ballot paper - a single hand for independence or two
clasped hands to remain one country.
On Saturday, Mr Kiir said the referendum was "not the end of the journey
but rather the beginning of a new one".
He was speaking in Juba alongside US Senator John Kerry, who has been in
talks with both northern and southern leaders attempting to smooth the
voting process.
Mr Kiir called on voters to "be patient", in case they were not able to
cast their ballot on the first day of polling.
Veronique De Keyser, head of the the European Union observer team in Juba,
said voting appeared to have started well.
"What I observed this morning was very moving in the sense that you can
feel it, in the crowd, the expectation of the people is important," she
said.
"It's very, very well organised. People are queuing very quietly so far
and I hope it reflects what is happening in the country today."
However, the run-up to the vote was marred by an attack by rebels on
Southern Sudan's military in the oil-rich Unity state.
Col Philip Aguer, a military spokesman, told the Associated Press on
Saturday that his troops had retaliated and killed four of the rebels.
UN officials confirmed that they had received reports of an attack in the
area, but did not say which side had suffered the fatalities.
EU-style bloc?
In an interview with the Arabic news channel al-Jazeera
, Mr Bashir said he understood why many southerners wanted independence,
but he expressed concern at how the new nation would cope.
"The south suffers from many problems," he said.
"It's been at war since 1959. The south does not have the ability to
provide for its citizens or create a state or authority."
Mr Bashir said southerners living in the north would not be allowed dual
citizenship, and floated the idea of the two nations joining in an
EU-style bloc.
He also raised the issue of Abyei, an oil-rich region with disputed
borders.
He warned that if southerners seized the region for themselves, it could
lead to war.
Analysts say Mr Bashir is under intense pressure from northern
politicians, who fear that secession of the south may lead to a further
splintering of the
country.
North and south Sudan have suffered decades of infighting in conflicts
driven by religious and ethnic divides.
Southern Sudan is one of the least developed areas in the world and many
of its people have have long complained of mistreatment at the hands of
the Khartoum government.
Earlier this week the official in charge of the referendum commission,
Chan Reen Madut, said the region was attempting "something that has never
happened".
"Nobody ever bothered to ask the people of Southern Sudan as to what their
destiny should be," he said.
Turnout in the referendum will be important, as the 2005 peace agreement
stipulates that for the vote to be valid, 60% of the 3.8 million
registered voters must take part.
FONTE:
BBC News Africa 
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 destiny should be," he said.
devono scegliere tra la schiavitů o l'incertezza dell'esodo nel deserto. 
Purtroppo non sono guidati da Mosč e dai patriarchi; sono condotti anche da 
farabutti o da qualche rappresentante di azienda petrolifera.
y 

 farabutti o da qualche rappresentante di azienda petrolifera.
colpa delle religioni