Juba, January 8
An oil-rich state riven by confessional and ethnic divisions, poisoned by the legacy of two civil wars, is about to do something remarkable. Tomorrow Sudan will allow its southern half to break away using the ballot box.

Starting tomorrow, southern Sudanese will cast simple, illustrated ballots at polling stations under thatched roof shelters in the remote and impoverished countryside and in Juba, a city of simple concrete houses and mud huts that got its first paved roads only in recent years.

If it passes, the referendum will split Africa's biggest country between the mostly Arab and Muslim north, and the mostly black and Christian or animist south. Southern Sudan would then be on track to become the world's newest country in July. Outstanding issues like sharing oil wealth, water rights and demarcating the border still have to be agreed to.

What makes the vote by citizens of Southern Sudan remarkable is that most of the country’s oil will end up to the south of the new borders. This alone has prompted many to wonder if splitting Africa’s biggest country would trigger a new civil war. So far it hasn’t.

But whatever Southern Sudan’s politicians tell their people, the new country will not enjoy the lion’s share of oil revenues. Independence for the south has been bought at great expense and much of the new state’s potential income will transfer to Khartoum in the form of contractual fees for the transport of oil. These payments are the price the north is exacting for letting go.

On the ground, little will change as northern-controlled security forces will police the oil fields on the new borders and the only pipelines will still head north. This is the “shared destiny” that pragmatists argued was essential for an amicable divorce. It will do little to satisfy the influential Darfur lobby that seethes at the deals being struck with the government of the alleged war criminal Omar al-Bashir.

However, the legacy of secession will be a Southern Sudan with supersized expectations and no money to meet them. The vision of a new infrastructure springing up that allows Juba to shun Khartoum is a pipe dream. The challenge for the international community is to find a way to support a new state whose citizens believe it is richer than it is. The real test for the state builders starts now. — Agencies

Toronto, January 8
Inderjit Singh Reyat, the only man convicted in the 1985 Air India bombing that killed 329 persons, was sentenced today in Vancouver to nine years in prison for perjury during the trial of two men acquitted in the attacks.

In handing down his sentence, British Columbia Superior Court judge Mark McEwan observed Reyat was “nothing like a remorseful man.” “The effect of Reyat’s perjury on the outcome of the trial is incalculable,” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said quoting Justice McEwan.

Reyat will receive 17 months credit for time spent in pre-trial custody, reducing his sentence to seven years and seven months. Crown prosecutors had sought the maximum sentence for perjury of 14 years.

Reyat had been in custody since September 2010, when he was found guilty of perjury during the 2003 trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri.

The two men had been charged with conspiring to blow up Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985, and of causing another explosion on the same day that killed two baggage handlers at Narita Airport in Tokyo.

The aircraft was off the coast of Ireland, en route from Montreal to London, England, and New Delhi when an explosive device went off in the cargo hold, killing all 329 persons aboard. Malik and Bagri were eventually acquitted.

Seven years later, on September 18, 2010, the Crown proved that Reyat had lied repeatedly under oath during their trial.

For example, Reyat claimed never to have learned the name or other basic facts about an unnamed conspirator in the bombing, even though the man had stayed at Reyat’s home on Vancouver Island for several days.

At today’s sentencing hearing, McEwan said much of the evidence Reyat gave under oath was inconsistent with common sense and that his lies, just months after the guilty plea as part of the deal that included his testimony, “bespoke a deep and abiding rejection of Canadian values.” Reyat’s prospects for rehabilitation are slim, he said.

Reyat served a 10-year sentence after being convicted in 1991 of two counts of manslaughter for making the bomb that exploded the same day at Tokyo’s Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers.

He was sentenced to five years in a separate trial for his role in constructing the bomb that brought down the Air India flight. — PTI

Kabul, January 8
Concerned over some aspects of the transition process in Afghanistan, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna flew in here today on a two-day visit during which he will seek from Afghan leadership clarity on a host of issues, including President Hamid Karzai’s move to reintegrate the Taliban over which India has hesitation.

Krishna will hold talks with Afghan leadership during which he will also discuss security of Indian nationals and reiterate India’s commitment for the reconstruction of the war-torn country.

“I look forward to detailed consultation... on further broadening and deepening our bilateral relationships and on regional and international issues of mutual interest,” said Krishna, who arrived here on his third visit to Afghanistan.

This is first high-level meeting between New Delhi and Kabul after the last month’s US review of the situation in Afghanistan.

Krishna, who will hold talks with his counterpart Zalmay Rassoul tomorrow before meeting President Hamid Karzai, is expected to also underline the importance of India’s role in the reconstruction of the war-torn country. India has pledged $1.3 billion for reconstruction activities.

Krishna today met First Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Second Vice President Mohammad Karim Khalili and Speaker of the House of the People Mohammmad Yonus Qanooni.

Sources indicated that India would like to know how this whole transition process is going to play out and will see clarity on proposed move to reintegrate Taliban.

According to the US assessment report “Overview of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Annual Review”, America was still on course to begin troop withdrawal from Afghanistan as soon as July 2011 and continue to move towards the goal of having Afghans take the lead in security in the country in 2014. — PTI

Washington, January 8
A package an official said was addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano ignited at a Washington postal facility, a day after fiery packages sent to Maryland’s governor and transportation secretary burned the fingers of workers who opened them. Authorities were bracing for more packages to surface. “Right now we don’t have any other packages, but we’re not taking anything for granted,” DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.

Initial information indicated the parcel that ignited in northeast Washington about 2:45 pm was similar to the packages opened on Thursday in Maryland, a state adjacent to the national capital, authorities said.

The Washington postal facility was evacuated after an employee discovered a parcel that looked similar to the Maryland mailings, authorities said yesterday. No injuries were reported.

The Maryland packages contained a note railing against highway signs urging motorists to report suspicious activity, investigators revealed.

The message read: “Report suspicious activity! Total Bull----! You have created a self fulfilling prophecy.” At the DC facility, which primarily handles mail for the federal government in Washington, workers are not allowed to open packages, postal inspector Frank Schissler said, so it’s unclear exactly how the parcel ignited.

The package was “popping, smoking and there was a brief flash of fire,” Lanier said; that was very similar to what authorities described in Maryland. The labels, postmark and stamps also were similar to the Maryland parcels, Postal Service spokeswoman Joanne Veto said. — AP