15/07/2011 17:17
South Sudan becomes UN member
South Sudan was welcomed into the United Nations on Thursday as its 193rd member.
South Sudan's flag was raised in New York on Thursday marking the admission of world's newest country as the 193rd member of the United Nations.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed South Sudan, which was represented by Vice President Rick Machar to the official admission ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York, .monstersandcritics.com reports.
'Just days ago, I was honoured to attend the independence ceremony in Juba,' Ban said. 'I felt the energy, the potential and the pure joy of the world's newest nation.'
South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar hailed the day as "historic" and "emotional," news.xinhuanet.com reports.
The UN General Assembly on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution admitting the newly independent Republic of South Sudan as the 193rd member of the UN.
The African country declared independence last Saturday in its capital Juba. Its independence is the result of the January 2011 referendum held under the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the decades-long civil war between the North and the South.