Voting Begins in Sudan's Historic Referendum

Millions of southern Sudanese began voting Sunday in an independence referendum expected to divide Africa's largest country in two.
Thousands of Sudanese lined up through the night to be among the first to vote in the week-long, landmark poll.
Southern Sudanese president Salva Kiir voted in the southern capital of Juba on Sunday.  U.S. Senator John Kerry, along with Sudan activist and actor George Clooney, were on hand to watch Kiir vote.
Kiir said, "This is the historic moment the people of southern Sudan have been waiting for."
Nearly 4 million people are registered to vote in the poll, which was promised in the 2005 peace deal that ended 21 years of war between Sudan's Muslim-majority north and the mainly Christian and animist south.
The referendum continues through Saturday.  Most analysts predict the south will vote for independence.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has pledged to accept the results and help the south regardless of the outcome.
Dignitaries from around the world, along with thousands of election monitors, are in Sudan to observe the vote.
Southern Sudan's army and rebels clashed in Unity state Saturday ahead of the referendum.  Local officials say six people were killed.
Colonel Philip Aguer of the Sudan People's Liberation Army told the French news agency Sunday there have been no further clashes in Unity and there is "calm across the whole of south Sudan."
The north and south still have to resolve a number of issues involving borders, water use, oil revenue, and the fate of the oil-producing Abyei region.
The U.N. Security Council has expressed "deep concern" about the lack of an agreement on Abyei.  The region was scheduled to hold a separate referendum Sunday to decide whether to join the north or south, but the poll was put off because of disputes over who would be eligible to vote. (From VOA)