The African Union admitted South Sudan as its 54th member after the new African country proclaimed independence from Sudan on July 9 following decades of conflict, the AU said. South Sudan is one of the world's poorest nations and has inherited a string of disputes with its northern neighbor after its people voted in a January referendum to break away from Sudan — a decision accepted by Khartoum. Representatives of the two countries are expected to resume AU-mediated talks next week on solving outstanding issues such as citizenship and oil revenue-sharing. The Addis Ababa-based AU said late Wednesday it had received more than the required majority votes to admit South Sudan as a member following a referendum held under the terms of a 2005 peace deal that ended a 20-year war between north and south Sudan in which more than 2 million people died. The AU said it will hold a flag-raising ceremony to mark the membership of its newest constituent. The bloc's last entrant was Eritrea in 1993 after it split from Ethiopia following a 30-year war for independence. The General Assembly admitted South Sudan on July 14 as the 193rd member of the United Nations. South Sudan's President Salva Kiir attended the 18th Summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Assembly of Heads of State and Governments in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on July 4, 2011
