South Sudan just a year away?

South Sudan just a year away?

When John Garang signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) back in 2005, he made sure it included a referendum clause by which the people of south Sudan could decide their own fate.

They could remain part of a united Sudan or become an independent entity.

Garang told his people that it was a golden choice and they must take it seriously. The referendum is set for January 2011, and southerners are gearing up for it.

But statements of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made on Sunday have infuriated people here. In particular, his comment on Radio France Internationale that "the UN has a big responsibility ... to make unity attractive".

Protesters have been carrying banners screaming: "Down, down with the UN coward Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ban Ki-moon repent before judgement."

Another said: "Why not hand over Bashir to ICC to get good leadership?"

The reference was to Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged war crimes in Sudan's western Darfur province.

A third banner said: "We'd prefer to be dead in our own country than be in a failed Arab state."

The anger is also directed towards the African Union which - according to southerners - is protecting and supporting al-Bashir.

Standing among protesters here in Bor - capital of Jonglei, the south's largest state - I can only notice that Ban's statements have only increased a public resolve to vote for cessation.

As one man put it:  "I hope that those who were thinking about unity will nowl understand that its not an option."

People here make their "golden choice" .. even if it means war. Better dead, they say, than continue to be second class citizens in their own country.

Updated at 07:35 GMT on Tuesday, February 2, 2010:

The office of the UN secretary-general believes some of his recent comments on south Sudan have been used out of context. They have therefore sent the full transcript of Ban Ki-Moon's remarks during a recent news conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was attending the summit of the Africa Union:

First of all, full and faithful implementation of the CPA is in the best interest of the Sudanese people and the countries in the region and even for African countries. They have taken a long time to agree to this Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The United Nations has been working very closely in strong partnership with the African Union to implement this CPA. First to bring peace and stability in Darfur, together with the African Union, we have deployed Unamid forces. This is the first ever joint peacekeeping operation.

All the peacekeeping operations except the one in Darfur [are] United Nations peacekeeping operations, but this one in Darfur is a joint United Nations-AU peacekeeping operation. We have paid great focus on that.

We have been working very closely to see the CPA. The result of the CPA would be unity [inaudible] but of course the United Nations stands ready to respect the outcome. Whatever the outcome of this referendum may be we will respect. But ideally speaking, national unity should be the most ideal one. But it depends upon the south Sudanese. They have the right to choose and decide their own future.

That is exactly why the African Union and the United Nations feel that we are now going through a crucially important time to prepare for, first of all election this year, just after three months, and referenda next year -one for South Sudan and in Abyei.

We will continue to work very closely. That is the commitment and priority number one as far as the United Nations is concerned on African issues.