Al Jazeera Blogs

<P>News conferences in south Sudan's languid capital spill out of government buildings as the world's media descends for the secession referendum.</P>

<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">It’s the last day of campaigning before Sunday's referendum vote, and there’s so much colour and excitement on Juba's roads. <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">Anyone who is not here is missing out - it seems history is about to be made in Africa!</SPAN></SPAN></P>

<P>It will take time to overcome the challenges southern Sudan faces - but Mrs Garang seemed confident it can be done.</P>

<P>Despite the pessimism of international observers, southerners are likely to vote for a new chaper in their history on Sunday.</P>

<P>Country's economy feeling the pinch of possible split as currency plummets and prices of essential goods skyrocket.</P>

<P>South Sudanese officials find themselves hard-pressed to deal with the&nbsp;media attention the&nbsp;referendum has generated.</P>

<p>Jalaa al-Azhari, the daughter of Sudan's first president Ismali al-Azhari, marks the 55th anniversary of the country's&nbsp; independence with sadness as the looming referendum could see Africa's largest nation split in two halves.</p>

<P>January 1 marks the official independence day of Sudan but with a referendum on the future status of the country just days away the celebrations this year are being approached with mixed feelings.</P>

<P>Is the former garrison town ready for the task of administering a Texas-sized region of some 8 million people? The challenges that await it and the country it would govern are indeed immense.</P>

<P>We wanted striking, distinctive images of&nbsp; local people in Juba registering to vote in the January 11 referendum on a day when&nbsp;all police had been ordered to register and dozens were lined up under a tree in bright turquoise uniforms. <BR>So we drove up to the registration desk, piled out of the car and I went over to ask for the "person in charge". <BR>That’s when the trouble started.</P>