Juba, Sudan (CNN) -- Sudan's foreign affairs ministry is contradicting U.S. President Jimmy Carter's statement about Southern Sudan's debt obligations.
Southern Sudanese voters are heading to the polls this week to determine whether they should secede from Sudan. The question of how to split Sudan's debt is one of several issues that would have to be resolved if the south votes for independence, as is widely expected.
On Monday, Carter told CNN that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir "said the entire debt should be assigned to north Sudan and not to the southern part of Sudan. So, in effect, Southern Sudan is starting with a clean sheet on debt. They'll have to make some arrangements for other sources of income, of course".
The Sudan News Agency reported Monday the country's foreign affairs ministry "categorically refuted the statements". CNN
