JUBA, Sudan — Former USPresident Jimmy Carter says the international community should forgive Sudan's crushing debt burden to help the likely new nation of Southern Sudan get on its feet.Southern Sudan is oil-rich but remains desperately poor. The entire France-sized region has only 30 miles (50 kilometers) of paved roads and only 15 percent of the population can read.Carter said Thursday that Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir believes the international community should forgive the debt, a view Carter agrees with.Southern Sudan is widely expected to secede from the north, and al-Bashir has said he will let the south go peacefully. The north and south fought a two-decade war that killed 2 million people before a 2005 peace agreement.
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)