US Vice-President Biden Meets South Sudan Leader

US Vice-President Joe Biden has met the President of South Sudan Salva Kiir while in Kenya on the second leg of his Africa trip.

US Vice-President Biden Meets South Sudan Leader
Mr Biden pledged technical support for a referendum due early next year.

NAIROBI, 10 June 2010 (BBC) - The pair discussed a referendum due next year when the semi-autonomous southern region will be given the chance to vote for full independence.

A Sudanese official said that Mr Biden pledged US technical and financial support for the referendum.

Mr Kiir, who won polls in April, is the first elected president of the region.

The elections were part of a peace deal that ended a 21-year civil war between the north and south.

The BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says there are fears that key issues will not be resolved in time for the referendum and there are claims of rising tension between the north and south of Sudan.

If the vote takes place, the people of Southern Sudan are almost certainly going to choose to break away from the Arab dominated north, our correspondent adds.

Comments
RSS comment feed
10/06/2010, 5:37 PM
 - Posted by Deng Ruei
Commended by Deng Ruei Kong
10 june 2010

Good H.E vice-president of USA to the problem we are in. The Arabs of the Northern Sudan don't want us to be free in our own country and don't want us to get our rights like referendum. They delay formation of commissions that will be responsible for referendum's activities.

Now it is their lie, we are desperate to get independence from them. It will be ballot papers that we will vote for separation and if the say no, they don't need Sudan to be divided, our guns will get birth to bullets to shoot them down and some of them who remain alive can say to us, "get your freedom Southerners if it is why you kill us."

Thank you H.E President Salva Kiir you stretch relations to the world except those who don't want us to get independence from bad Arabs of North. To work for our welfare was the reason we voted for you to be president of GOSS again.
Add Comment
Log in
to post a comment. If you are not a Gurtong member yet, register here.
Designed and built by Brand X