VOA慢速英语2011-IN THE NEWS - South Sudan Decides its Fut

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

On Sunday, the people of southern Sudan begin deciding whether or not to become the world's newest nation. A week of voting is expected to split Africa's largest country in two.

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Friday was the final day of campaigning. Southern Sudanese paraded through Juba, their possible future capital.

The vote comes from a peace agreement six years ago. Almost four million people have registered to vote. David Gressly, the top United Nations official in the south, says voting centers are ready.

DAVID GRESSLY: "[The] security situation is calm. It’s been calm for a number of weeks. So we think this is going to start on time. It will go very peacefully."

Observers from around the world have gathered in Sudan for the voting. Final results are not expected for several weeks.

Many southerners have been returning from the north. They fear the unknown. Yet so do many northern Sudanese. They have urged southerners to vote for unity¹.

Supporters of independence gathered in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, Friday

But many southerners feel their part of the country has been treated unfairly by the central government in Khartoum.

The peace agreement was signed in January of two thousand five. It ended more than twenty years of civil war between the north and the south.

The conflict cost an estimated two million lives. It also prevented most economic development in the south -- one of the poorest areas in the world.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited Juba on Tuesday. He says his government will respect the results of the vote. The southern leader, Salva Kiir, has promised the same.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir visiting Juba this week

Historically, southern Sudan has had greater cultural and economic ties to East Africa than to the Arab-led government in Khartoum. The north is majority Muslim. The south is mainly Christians² and animists who follow traditional African religions.

44 million people live in Sudan. Estimates of how many of them live in the south are between about 7.5 million and nearly 10 million.

Most of the oil in Sudan is in the south. But the oil is processed and exported -- at least for now -- from Port Sudan in the north. Rosie Sharpe from the environmental rights group Global Witness say that means the north and south will have to cooperate. The two sides will have to settle other issues of borders, citizenship³ rights and water. But the biggest issue is oil.

The peace agreement divided oil earnings⁴. The south gets almost all of its money from oil. But that wealth-sharing deal ends when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement expires this July.

Ms. Sharpe says any future deal needs to be more in the open. She says no one is even sure exactly how much oil Sudan produces. China has the largest oil pumping operation there.

Justin Willis, an East Africa researcher at Britain’s Durham University, says Sudan's oil industry is deep in mystery.

JUSTIN WILLIS: "There are complicated special deals involving the output from each of the fields. Unsurprisingly there has been a lot of suspicion in Juba that they are not getting what they are supposed to get, and this really is a very major issue for the future."

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

1 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

2 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

3 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

4 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。