Sudan recognizes independence of oil-rich south

KHARTOUM/JUBA (Reuters) - Sudan became the first state to recognize the independence of its oil-producing south on Friday, smoothing the way for the division on Saturday of Africa's largest country but not dispelling fears of future tensions.

Underdeveloped South Sudan's secession takes place at midnight (2100 GMT) tonight -- a hard-won separation marking the climax of a process that began with an internationally brokered 2005 peace deal ending decades of north-south civil war.

"The Republic of Sudan declares its recognition of South Sudan as an independent and sovereign state as of July 9th 2011," Khartoum's Minister for Presidential Affairs Bakri Hassan Saleh told reporters, in the official English translation of the statement.

Sudan entered its last day as a united nation with rumblings of conflict along its north-south border and international concerns for the future stability of the huge, fractured and largely impoverished territory that straddles Arab and sub-Saharan Africa.

The looming independence sparked celebrations across the south -- and in large diaspora southern communities from the United States to Australia -- where many saw it as a moment of liberation after years of fighting and repression.