Arabs and southern tribe clash in Abyei
Violence has not stopped voters in southern Sudan from waiting as long as eight hours in line to vote for independence from the north. So far, thirty people have died in clashes in Abyei, a border region between the South and the North, where Arab tribes and southern Dinka Ngok are blaming each other for starting the violence. The referendum is the result of a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war between the Arab-Muslim North and the Christian and Animist South. The oil-rich South is widely expected to vote for independence, which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has pledged to respect. Voting will end Jan. 15 and the results will be known in February.