In the religiously mixed border towns residents fear they will be on the frontline of any post-referendum violence, informs Al Jazeera net Tuesday.
The scene after dark in this lively market in the northernmost tip of southern Sudan is more reminiscent of the Middle East than of East Africa, but both regions are represented here.
On its surface, Renk is reminiscent of the late southern rebel leader John Garang’s vision of a “New Sudan” – a place where the enormous diversity of Africa’s largest country can be of mutual benefit to its peoples instead of a cause for conflict or exploitation.
Despite the current economic benefits of north-south relations in Renk, the desire for independence among southerners is strong here. Like many other towns across the south, Renk has been holding pro-separation rallies on the ninth of each month in anticipation of January 9, the date currently set for south Sudan’s independence referendum.
It is believed that southerners will vote overwhelmingly for separation
The southern army’s division headquarters sit on the edge of Renk. The capital of Sudan is roughly 270 miles away, but the northern Sudanese military is massing troops at the current borderline between north and south.
Military observers from the United Nations mission in Sudan have the mandate to monitor the status of forces and the equipment of both the northern and southern Sudanese armies, but the UN does not have the access or ability to regularly patrol on the northern side of the border.
