John Duku, Southern
Sudan's former mission chief to Kenya, said Thursday that the oil-rich region
can take such action under the terms of a peace deal signed in 2005 to end the
north-south civil war. Southern Sudan does not have an embassy in Kenya but
Duku was the equivalent of ambassador until March. Duku is working on Southern
Sudan's referendum campaign but is not a member of the government. In Juba,
Southern Sudan' capital, Minister of Presidential Affairs Cirino Hiteng Ofuho
said Duku's views do not represent those of the government.