It Is now almost certain that on January 9th the vast majority of people in South Sudan will vote to secede from the rest of the country, thus paving the way to the formal inauguration of Africa's 54th sovereign state, probably in July. It will be a mo- ment for celebration tinged with queasy foreboding. But it is the only way forward. The long marriage between Sudan's Arab-and-Muslim north and its black, animist and Christian south was always unequal and unhappy. A federal arrangement might have worked if both sides had shown flexibility and magnanimity, but neither proved able to do so. At least 2m people, mostly southerners, have died in the course of marital discord spread over 50 years. Divorce is now the only option.
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