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Voters all across Africa’s largest nation, Sudan, gathered this week to cast votes on whether to separate the South of the country from the North. Officials from southern Sudan today declared that the 60% turnout threshhold to validate the election was reached. After decades of civil war, and devastating genocidal violence in Darfur, the referendum is being viewed as a panacea by many. But dozens of people have been killed in violence related to the referendum particularly around what could become a disputed border. Among the most volatile areas is the region of Abyei, where clashes broke out prior to the election. Both the northern and southern Sudanese claim historic ties to Abyei, leading Western media to dub the region “Sudan’s Jerusalem.” Meanwhile, Hollywood movie star George Clooney, who has been involved in Sudan activism, has been monitoring the election through a satellite system he established, intended to put the Sudanese government of Omar Al Bashir under a spotlight. Al Bashir’s regime has been directly implicated in the Darfur massacres which garnered international media attention. If the referendum results in separation, it would likely leave the oil-rich but extremely poor South in a worse economic state. While preliminary results will be released next week, the official results are expected by February.

GUEST: Ian Williams, Senior Analyst with Foreign Policy in Focus