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Diplomacy
Japan Welcomes the Secession of Southern Sudan
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Tokyo- (PanOrient News) Japan welcomed today the final result announced by the South Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), in which the overwhelming majority voted for the secession of Southern Sudan.
A statement by Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said that Japan sincerely welcomes the fact that the referendum was held in a peaceful manner and that major progress was seen in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
In anticipation of the expiry of the CPA due to be implemented in July of this year, the Northern and Southern Sudan peace process is at a crucial stage, the statement said. Japan strongly expects that the parties involved in both Northern and Southern Sudan will accept the results of the referendum and smoothly advance negotiations on various issues toward the envisaged secession and independence of Southern Sudan. To this end, Japan will proactively support the efforts of both sides, according to the statement.
The results, which will see the oil-rich south becoming the 54th African state, showed that 98.83 percent of voters chose secession, with only 1.17 percent voting against.
Japan imported 16,166 million barrels of crude oil from Sudan in 2010 or 1.2% of total crude imports by Japan in that year.
PanOrient News
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