"The internal issues are in the state-building," the vice president said. That is why we also accepted the presence of UN peacekeepers in southern Sudan. As to the post-independence issues, we have committed ourselves to continue negotiations with Khartoum.

"We have the will to resolve these problems since now we have contained them into security issues, citizenship, oil and the common borders and also particularly Abiyeh, which is governed by a protocol and we are asking for its full implementation," he added.

He concluded, "For the two states to be viable there is an immediate need for insuring that there is justice and peace in the two areas of southern Kordofan and Blue Nile," two more areas of conflict.

Jeffrey Thamsanqa Rebede, minister of justice and constitutional development for South Africa called South Sudan's achievement "a historic moment for the African continent and the people of South Sudan in their struggle for self-determination."

Recalling the struggle of his country's people for independence, he said South Africans "have identified with the aspirations and desire of the people of South Sudan for independence, freedom, justice and self-determination."

Rebede congratulated presidents Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and Salva Kiir of South Sudan "for the exceptional leadership they have demonstrated in the past six years since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), to end more than 20 years of fighting between Khartoum and the southern separatists."

Wang Min, deputy permanent representative of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations called on the international community to continue to support South Sudan in realizing political stability and provide effective assistance for its economic recovery and development.

Foreign Minister Antonio de Aguiar Patriota of Brazil commended peoples of both the north and south of Sudan for their "political courage" in working towards nationhood.

"They proved wrong those who thought they could not work together for common goals," he said. "They remind this council that it can discharge its responsibilities under the (UN) Charter through negotiated diplomatic solutions."

De Aguiar Patriota recognized "the leadership role played in the early negotiations by the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) and the central role played by the African Union throughout the process that led to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement" in ending the north-south conflict.

Former South African President Tabo Mbeki has been widely praised for his role in the CPA.