Will Independence Come to Southern Sudan?

© Radio Nederland Wereldomroep

Since the country's bloodless coup in 1989, Southern Sudan has slowly become one of the most strife-torn regions on earth. The largely Arab North has been at odds with the tribal South for a generation. Could a solution be in the near future?

From the AFP:

Sudan's parliament adopted a key law on Tuesday, setting up a planned referendum on southern independence after northern and southern leaders overcame a dispute that had threatened a 2005 peace deal.

The law requires Southerners who have fled to the North to return to Southern Sudan in order to vote. The vote won't occur until 2011. And if the referendum results in independence for Southern Sudan, the status of a million or so Southerners who have moved north then comes into question…