President Barack Obama granted U.S. recognition of South Sudan as an independent state after it formally seceded from the north.
The South Sudanese parliament speaker read out the formal declaration of independence for the Republic of South Sudan on Saturday, the final step in a 2005 deal that followed decades of war between the north and south.
South Sudan’s Salva Kiir was sworn in as president of the world’s newest nation on Saturday during a ceremony formally declaring independence from Sudan in the north.
"I … do hereby swear by Almighty God that as the president of the Republic of South Sudan I shall be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Republic of South Sudan" Kiir said, reading out an oath on a podium before tens of thousands of southerners.
President Barack Obama granted U.S. recognition of South Sudan as an independent state after it formally seceded from the north on Saturday.
"After so much struggle by the people of South Sudan, the United States of America welcomes the birth of a new nation," Obama said in a statement issued by the White House. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick)
