Sudan became the first state to recognise the independence of its oil-producing south on July 8, smoothing the way for the division of Africa’s largest country into two. Underdeveloped South Sudan seceded on July 9 – a hard-won separation that comes as the climax of an internationally brokered 2005 peace deal that ended decades of north-south civil war. “The Republic of Sudan declares that it recognizes the state of South Sudan from July 9,” Khartoum’s Minister for Presidential Affairs Bakri Hassan Saleh announced. The UN Security Council voted on July 8 to establish a new peacekeeping force for South Sudan. The new mission, called UNMISS, calls for up to 7,000 UN peacekeepers and an additional 900 civilian police for South Sudan. The vote to adopt the resolution was unanimous.
However, Khartoum has made clear it is against a continuing UN peacekeeping presence, which has caused concerns about what will happen to strife-torn Southern Kordofan region and other areas. The current UNMIS mission, which monitors compliance with the 2005 peace deal, is set to end with the south’s secession.