Sudan vote to herald break up of African state?

The Sudanese vote has implications for all of Africa, signalling that the borders drawn by colonial cartographers are no longer sacrosanct. Some fear it may spur the balkanisation of the continent.

"The referendum in Sudan could have a domino effect," said Shehu Sani, president of the Civil Rights Congress in Nigeria. "It is likely to be infectious to other parts of Africa in the sense that most countries, particularly in the west, are divided along the lines of Christians and Muslims."