Voting materials are unloaded from a UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) helicopter in Tali Payam, a district inaccessible by road, in Southern Sudan’s Central Equatoria State on January 2, 2011. The independence referendum begins on January 9, 2011. UPI/Tim McKulka/UN |
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KHARTOUM, Sudan, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Despite a milestone for South Sudan's independence, world leaders expressed concern over escalating violence in the Abyei region of the country.
Voters in South Sudan reached the 60 percent threshold needed to form an independent state on Wednesday, the third day of polling. The referendum is part of a 2005 comprehensive peace agreement that ended a brutal civil war. At least 60 percent of eligible voters needed to participate to make the vote legitimate.
The oil-rich area of Abyei was slated to take part in the referendum, with voters expected to decide whether to join one of the two sides. The measure was postponed in part because of voter eligibility issues.
U.N. peacekeepers were called on to intensify patrols along the border area that will demarcate North Sudan from South Sudan following reports of deadly clashes in the region.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his latest report to the U.N. Security Council said ongoing problems in the border area was "a cause of alarm."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague released a statement expressing concern about violence in and around Abyei.
"We are monitoring the situation on the ground very closely and urge the people of Abyei and their leaders to exercise restraint," he said in a statement.
