Speaker of South Sudan Legislative Assembly James Wani Igga read the Proclamation of the Independence of South Sudan, sparking wild cheers of hundreds of thousands of people who gathered at the Mausoleum of John Garang, the late leader of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

　　Based on the will of the people of South Sudan, and as confirmed by the outcome of the referendum of self-determination, we "hereby declare South Sudan to be an independent and sovereign nation," Igga said.

　　The new state would be a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional character, and it is committed to establishing friendly relations with all countries "including the Republic of Sudan", Igga said.

　　The ecstatic crowd drummed and danced. Many burst into tears when the national flag of South Sudan was hoisted. Slogans of " South Sudan Oyee" and "Freedom Oyee" were shouted repeatedly by hundreds of thousands of people.

　　Salva Kiir Mayardit took the oath of office as President of the new republic after he signed the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan.

　　Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir stood beside Kiir to watch the military parade led by the Sudan People's Liberation Army, who had fought decades of war with the Sudanese government troops.

　　"Finally we are independent. Millions of lives have not been lost in vain," SPLA Chief of Staff General James Hoth Mai told Xinhua. "We want to keep peace with the north and we are confident to guard our people."

　　"There is no battle in the border areas today although the situation in the contested Abyei region is still tense," he said.

　　"As a newly founded nation, we want to communicate with all the members of the international community," he said, "We have oil, fertile land and brave people, but we have no skills or infrastructure. We need the world to help us develop from almost zero."

　　Senior officials including United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and representatives from the Arab League, African Union and European Union spoke at the ceremony.

　　Ban commended in his speech Kiir and Bashir for the "difficult decisions and compromises," but said that Sudan and South Sudan have not yet resolved all of their political issues and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by the two sides in 2005 have not be completed. The status of the contentious border region of Abyei remains unsettled.

　　"Let their differences be resolved around the negotiating table, " Ban said.

　　Jiang Weixin, a special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao, noted at the ceremony that the birth of South Sudan is the achievement of peaceful process that ended the longest civil war in Africa and successful referendum where Southern people choose independence.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)