Both the UN and international election observers hail last week’s referendum on independence in South Sudan as a success. Meanwhile, the counting of the ballots has already started in Juba.

The UN panel tasked with monitoring the referendum on the future status of South Sudan already yesterday said it was “satisfied” with the polling, which had lasted for a week and ended on Saturday. The UN panel concluded the process had been well organised and enabled the people of the region to express their will freely.

The panel, headed by former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, again confirmed that the 60 percent voter turnout threshold for the referendum to be valid had been met. The presence of over 22,000 Sudanese and international observers helped make the process transparent, the members of the panel said, adding that staff at referendum centres “coped admirably with the very high turnout.”

The News:
http://www.afrol.com/articles/37099

West Africa’s Guinea-Bissau has become the 74th country to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

Kosovar acting Foreign Minister Vlora Citaku confirmed the information to NKR on January 13.

Guinea-Bissau is the second country to recognize Kosovo in 2011, with Qatar having done so on January 4.

The News:
http://www.newkosova … y-guinea-bissau.html

Basque separatist group ETA called a permanent ceasefire on Monday, Basque regional newspaper Gara said on its website, three months after the weakened group announced a halt to armed attacks.

The group, which has killed more than 850 people in half a century of armed struggle for an independent state in northern Spain and southwest France, has been crippled by arrests and a rise in support among Basques for legal politics.

“ETA has decided to declare a permanent and general ceasefire which will be verifiable by the international community,” the group said in an English-language statement on www.gara.net.

ETA Declaration sent to newspaper Gara:
http://www.gara.net/ … 0108_declaration.pdf

The News:
http://www.nytimes.c … html?_r=1&ref=europe

The referendum is known as “The Final Walk to Freedom” - a symbolic journey for those who fought in decades of war, for villagers whose homes were bombed, and for orphans who ended up in US communities as the Lost Boys of Sudan.

The weeklong independence balloting starts Sunday for the southern third of Sudan - Africa’s biggest country - on whether to draw a border between the north, which is mostly Arab and Muslim, and the south, populated mostly by blacks who are Christian or animist.

For southern Sudanese like Atem Yak, who survived war, lived amid dire poverty and endured discrimination, it has been a long time coming.

The News:
http://www.news24.co … om-in-Sudan-20110108

Qatar recognizes the Republic of Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state, confirms the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Republic of Kosovo..

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar has notified the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo through a note verbale that the Emirate of Qatar has decided to recognize the independence of the Republic of Kosovo on January 4, 2011.

On its diplomatic note, Qatar has expressed readiness to establish diplomatic and strengthen economic relations with the new Balkans country.

The News:
http://www.newkosova … os-independence.html