国际英语新闻：Post-referendum period marks era of political dispute in Sudan

Regarding the other outstanding issues, Khalid Dirar of al- Rasid center said that "with regard to issues of nationality, ownership and civil service, the two parties should reach an agreement that guarantees the citizens' rights without any discrimination on base of regional affiliation."

"There must be a specific and accurate legal determination for the issue of nationality together with the favorable options that could be adopted in case of separation such as the option of double nationality besides definition of the rights associated with citizens and those associated with non-citizens," Dirar said.

Apart from the outstanding issues that the north and the south are awaited to resolve, other challenges emerge that could similarly cast negative impact on Sudan's political, economic and security future whether in the north or the south.

Sudan's external debts, for instance, constitute a heavy burden for a fragile economic system in the north and another one yet to be built from zero in the south, which needs a stance from big countries and the countries to which Sudan is indebted to ensure the stability of Sudan, both in its north and south.

In this respect, Adil Abdel-Jalil, a Sudanese economic expert, speaking to Xinhua, stressed the importance for north and south Sudan to exert joint efforts to have all or most of Sudan's external debts, which amount to over 30 billion U.S. dollars, be exempted.

"If the two sides failed to have exemption, then all the loans, with their interests, which have been utilized in establishment of development projects in the south, must be specified for the newly born state to shoulder," he said.

"Sudan stands on two types of economies. A moving economy in the north and a static economy in the south, and therefore, the international community must take into consideration the requirements of the post-dispute economy in the south on one part, and the requirements of the economic stability in the north on the other part," he added.

Sudan's external debts amount to around 35 billion U.S dollars, most of which date back to 30 years, for example during the era of former Sudanese President Ja'far Nimiri who ruled Sudan for almost 16 years.

The week-long polling process of the south Sudan referendum concluded on Saturday, but the South Sudan Referendum Commission ( SSRC) decided to extend the polling at one overseas center, namely in Australia, for extra five days.

The total number of the registered eligible southern Sudanese voters amounted to 3,930,916 voters, 3,753,815 of them in south Sudan, 116,860 in north Sudan and 60,241 in eight overseas countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Australia, the United States, Britain and Canada.

Around 17,000 local observers together with 1,200 foreign observers are monitoring the south Sudan referendum which is the major item in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), inked in January 2005 between north and south Sudan, which ended a two- decade civil war between the two sides.