Southern Sudanese boys in the north watch a truck being loaded with belongings as it prepares to leave for the south before the secession referendum, in an area called Mandela in Khartoum, Jan 5, 2011. After south Sudan votes as expected to secede from the north on Jan 9, leaders of both countries must still resolve a daunting range of practical issues if they are to prevent a return to violence. The referendum, guaranteed by a 2005 peace deal between north and south which ended Africa's longest civil war, is forecast to result in secession, but exactly how the two countries will begin to disentangle their economies, resources and people is far from clear. [China Daily/Agencies]