The Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, are among the dignitaries who attended the celebrations in the capital, Juba.
The independence of the South continues to decades of conflict with the north where some 1.5 million people died.
The celebrations in Juba began at midnight (21:00 GMT). A countdown clock in the center of the city came to zero and the new national anthem was played on television.
Southern Sudan became the 193rd recognized by the UN and the 54 UN member state in Africa.
The formal independence ceremony to be held on Saturday.
The President of the Legislative Assembly of Southern Sudan, James Wani Igga is expected to read the Proclamation of Independence of South Sudan at 11:45 (08:45 GMT) minutes later, the national flag of Sudan will be reduced and the new flag of South Africa Sudan rose.
On Friday, the Sudanese Minister of Presidential Affairs, Bakri Hassan Saleh, said he recognized "the Republic of Southern Sudan as an independent state, according to the borders existing on January 1, 1956," when Sudan became independent from Britain.
No comments:
Post a Comment