South Sudan declared its independence on Saturday in a joyous day long ceremony in the capital Juba attended by tens of thousands of South Sudanese and senior representatives of dozens of other states.

The chosen location was a fitting site – the field surrounding the mausoleum of John Garang, the late rebel army leader who is considered the father of the South Sudanese nation.

As the people of South Sudan declared their independence on Saturday after decades of struggle, congratulations and pledges of support swiftly came in from leaders across the world.

At least twenty countries have already recognized South Sudan, including all five members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – as well as India, South Africa, and Nigeria.

Other countries include Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Australia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, South Korea and Switzerland.

Ironically, Sudan was the first to recognise South Sudan, given Khartoum’s decades of violent efforts to deny the South’s demand independence that have resulted in over two million deaths and four million people being displaced.

This is the statement by ANC National Spokesperson Jackson Mthembu on the occasion of South Sudan's independence day celebrations on July 9.

South Sudan has emerged as the newest state in the world, 54th state in Africa and the UN's 193rd member state. This marks the formal attainment of freedom for the people of South Sudan, after over five decades of painful struggle, war and carnage that cost millions of lives and displaced many others and left them destitute.

As South Sudan celebrates its formal birth as Africa's newest state, its constitution, in the process of being drafted, will have an Indian hand in it, IANS reports.

"South Sudan is looking at the experience of democracies like India," said Sandeep Shastri, pro vice-chancellor at Bangalore's Jain University who is helping draft the statute of the country.

"South Sudan has watched the political and constitutional developments in India with great interest and believe that there is a lot that a country like South Sudan can gain from that experience."

An international consultant with the Forum of Federations, a Canada-based think-tank, Shastri is the only Indian involved with public debates being held across South Sudan, a country of over 8 million people, in the run-up to framing the constitution.

The Forum of Federations was also heavily involved in the Norwegian peace process in Sri Lanka. Its representative, Bob Rae, now the Liberal Party’s interim leader, was deported from Sri Lanka in 2008.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Monday for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddhafi, his son Saif al-Islam and the country’s intelligence chief, Abdullah al-Senussi, on charges of crimes against humanity.

See Al-Jazeera’s report here.

Gaddhafi has “absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control” over Libya’s state apparatus and its security forces, presiding judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng said in reading out the ruling.

A group of 17 leading Libyan football figures have announced their defection to the rebels opposing Muammar Ghadaffi’s rule.

They announced the defection to the BBC.

They include the nation's goalkeeper, Juma Gtat, three other national team members, and the coach of Tripoli's top club al-Ahly, Adel bin Issa.

"I am telling Col Gaddafi to leave us alone and allow us to create a free Libya," Gtat told the BBC.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested its judges to authorize an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Côte d’Ivoire following the presidential run-off held last November.

If the judges grant the Prosecutor’s request, it will be the first time the ICC opens a case in a State that is not party to the Rome Statute, which set up the Court.

See the UN News Centre’s report here.

Officially, Beijing follows what it calls a policy of non-interference and neutrality in the domestic affairs of other nations.

However, the top foreign affairs official in Libya's opposition has just arrived in China for talks with the Beijing government, the BBC reports.

Mahmud Jibril is to be there for two days.

Nearly thirty years after the end of Guatemala’s civil war, a former armed forces chief has finally been arrested on charges of genocide, forced disappearances and crimes against humanity.

Retired general Hector Mario Lopez, 81, was detained in the capital, Guatemala City, on Friday, accused of being behind the killings of more than 300 indigenous Maya civilians from the Ixil region in 1982 and 1983.