EU to deploy 110 observers to monitor South Sudan referendum

December 20, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The European Union has announced it will deploy 110-strong team of observers to assess South Sudan independence vote which is set to take place in January 2011.

South Sudan is less than 20 days away from holding a crucial referendum vote on whether its citizens wish to remain united with the north or secede to be Africa’s newest nation. The plebiscite is a key plank of the 2005’s peace deal that ended decades of north-south civil war.

Most observers expect southerners to vote overwhelmingly for secession.

The head of the EU Elections Observation Mission (EOM), Veronique de Keyser, on Monday announced in a press conference held at Burj Al-Fatih Hotel in Khartoum said that the 110 team comprised members from 27 European countries as well as others Switzerland, Norway and Canada.

De Keyser, who is also member of the EU Parliament, further revealed that the team’s line-up consists of 10 senior-experts and 32 permanent observers and 60 short-term observers who would arrive with the beginning of the referendum. She explained that there were already a team of 16 observers and 3 experts following the process since last November.

The head of the mission said that the team’s final report would be released as soon as the referendum process is over.

The EU Mission which monitored last April’s general elections in Sudan had concluded that the elections failed to meet international standards.

Meanwhile, more than 72 foreign journalists will be granted visas to enter Sudan to cover the referendum process. The daily newspaper Al-Ahram Al-Yawm quoted insiders from the ministry of foreign affairs as disclosing that the ministry had approved entry visas for as many as 72 journalists representing new agencies and radios from France, the US, Egypt, Bulgaria and Canada.

According to the paper’s sources, some news agencies plan to dispatch up to seven reporters to cover the referendum.

(ST)