Sudan border guarded

UN: United Nations troops could police "hotspots" on the tense border between North and South Sudan before an independence referendum in the south, a senior US official said.

The international community can also step up sanctions against Sudan if the vote is seriously delayed, the official added late Wednesday.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir asked for UN peacekeepers to be put along the border when UN Security Council ambassadors visited Sudan last week.

Some UN mission (UNMIS) troops already act as observers in the frontier region, where each side has accused the other of building up their military ahead of the referendum. Thursday, AFP