South Sudan Becomes Independent

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South Sudan will Saturday become the world's newest nation, the climax of a process made possible by the 2005 peace deal that ended a long and bloody civil war in Sudan.

The celebrations in Juba, capital of the new country began at midnight Friday, when the countdown clock in the town centre reached zero and the new national anthem was played on local television.

South Sudan becomes the 193rd country recognised by the United Nations and the 54th UN member state in Africa.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are among the international dignitaries attending the celebrations in the capital, Juba.

The Speaker of the South Sudan Legislative Assembly, James Wani Igga, is expected to read out the Proclamation of the Independence of South Sudan at 1145 (0845 GMT). Minutes later Sudan's national flag will be lowered and the new flag of South Sudan will be raised.

In addition to Bashir and Ban, the attendees will include former US Secretary of State Colin Powell; the US permanent representative to the UN, Susan Rice; and the head of the US military's Africa Command, Gen Carter Ham.

Sudan earlier became the first state to officially recognise its new neighbour.

The south's independence follows decades of conflict with the north, in which some 1.5 million people died.

Jacob Zuma headed to Russia for Libya Talks

Zuma belongs to the AU's team tasked with engaging "the opposing parties in Libya"

JOHANNESBURG: South African President Jacob Zuma (iron man) is leaving on Sunday for Russia for talks on Libya, a spokeswoman said, after an African Union summit sought to push a regional peace plan to end the conflict.

"He is leaving today, and the meeting is scheduled for tomorrow," spokeswoman Zanele Mngadi said on Sunday.

The foreign ministry in Pretoria said Zuma would meet with the International Contact Group on Libya, but no members of the group could confirm the talks.

Its next scheduled meeting is July 15 in Istanbul.

Russia, which has also sought to play a mediating role in the nearly five-month conflict, has yet to confirm Zuma's visit.

Zuma belongs to the African Union team tasked with finding a solution to the conflict in Libya.

The foreign ministry said that he was travelling to Russia at Moscow's invitation.

The Kremlin said in a statement late on Saturday that Zuma and President Dmitry Medvedev held a telephone conversation in which they agreed on a "personal meeting in the closest time" but gave no details on when it would
take place.

"The heads of state agreed on a personal meeting in the closest time to agree and coordinate the ensuing steps for a solution to the internal Libyan conflict," it said.

Like South Africa, Russia has sought to be a key mediator, with Medvedev dispatching his envoy Mikhail Margelov both to fighters-held Benghazi and Qadhafi-controlled Tripoli for talks.

Medvedev has said it is time for Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi to step aside but Russia has also expressed mounting anger with the intensity and duration of the Nato air strikes against loyalist targets.

The announcement by Pretoria came shortly after Zuma returned home from the African Union summit in Equatorial Guinea, where the continental grouping adopted a plan for negotiations between the warring Libyan parties.

"We are very happy that we have reached this point, that we can now say very soon we will be launching the talks in Addis Ababa and we believe we will get the necessary support from everyone," Zuma said late on Friday after the summit.

But the accord reached at the summit did little to bring forward earlier AU proposals, which have been rejected by the fighters who insist that Qadhafi must go.

New elements in the roadmap include provisions for a multinational peacekeeping force organised by the United Nations.

The AU also says that Qadhafi has agreed to stay out of the negotiations, but the 53-nation bloc was unable to take a position on his future, which is a key sticking point between the two sides.

The agreement contained no direct criticism of Qadhafi and even called for an amnesty for crimes during the conflict and the unfreezing of Libyan assets abroad.

The African Union also decided that its members would not execute an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against the leader.

Qadhafi was one of the main contributors to African Union running costs but also, thanks to his petrodollars, unilaterally funded several projects across the continent for years.
Agence France-Presse