PanOrient News

Diplomacy

Japan Welcomes the Beginning of the Referendum in Southern Sudan

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Tokyo- (PanOrient News) Japan welcomed today the start of polling for the Southern Sudan Referendum as scheduled on January 9, and said that the referendum "holds great significance as a historic step towards the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) concluded between Northern and Southern Sudan in 2005."

The Japanese Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said in a statement that it is important that the referendum is carried out in a free, fair, and peaceful manner in order to promote the consolidation of peace in Sudan.

The statement added that from this perspective, Japan intends to contribute to ensuring the voting process through its monitoring mission that has been dispatched to the country, in cooperation with relevant countries and organizations.

"Japan expects that, if the referendum is carried out in a free, fair, and peaceful manner, that the interested parties of Northern and Southern Sudan will accept its results and continue working together as partners for the consolidation of peace in Sudan."

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