Egypt will participate in celebrating the establishment of the state of South Sudan on Saturday , said Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed al-Orabi.
A delegation including Deputy Prime Minister Yehia al-Gamal and the foreign and electricity ministers will present Egypt's official letter of recognition of the state to South Sudanese officials.
The delegation will also agree with Sudanese officials on arrangements to open an Egyptian embassy there and nominate an Egyptian ambassador.
The official announcement of the secession of South Sudan will be declared today, the new state created in accordance with the stipulations of a peace agreement signed between north and south Sudan in 2005.
The Egyptian delegation will further inaugurate several water and energy projects in South Sudan.
The Arab League, meanwhile, said it will support the upcoming negotiations between north and south Sudan over certain issues.
Informed sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that secretary general of the League, Nabil al-Araby, will not participate in the celebrations due to health problems. The assistant secretary general will participate instead.
The South Sudanese celebrated their independence with church bells and prayers for the new-born state. Dancing and singing, citizens held banners reading “Freedom for the South” and waved the flag of the new state.
South Sudan’s parliament endorsed the interim constitution and its parliamentary speaker said the constitution does not concentrate power in the hands of the president, whom it said will not rule for life.
Washington, meanwhile, announced it is exempting South Sudan from sanctions imposed on Sudan since 1993.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Israel will recognize the newly-formed state in the near future.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
