Two south Sudanese girls.

Thousands of polling stations began registering Sudanese citizens today to vote in a referendum that would split the nation in two. South Sudan, a largely Christian region that produces 80 percent of Sudan's oil exports, has long been aiming to separate from the Muslim north. A decades-long civil war between the two regions ended in a fragile peace treaty in 2005. 

The vote for independence was built into the 2005 treaty, and the secession is likely to take place January 9. 

Some fear that the south's vote would not result in peaceful independence, as the country remains under the tyrannical rule of President Omar Bashir, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court withcrimes against humanity in 2008.

The Carter Center, a U.S. organization, will be monitoring the voter registration drive. Its head, former President Jimmy Carter, thinks the referendum vote may be coming too soon.

"I don't think either side is ready to admit that the date needs to be postponed, although there are a lot of problems in the evolution of the electoral referendum procedures in getting the ballots printed and getting some of the key issues resolved concerning exact borderline between north and south," said Mr. Carter. [Voice of America]