The Sudan News Agency reported Monday the country's foreign affairs ministry "categorically refuted the statements."  It said the ministry's spokesman, Khalid Musa, explained that during the Carter meeting, al-Bashir affirmed Sudan's strong call on the international community to take the initiative in writing off Sudan's debts as part of the Debt Relief for Developing Countries and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative "in a view that the country, both in the north and south, have not enough resources to pay these debts."  Musa also noted the expected decrease of the north's oil revenues if southerners choose separation, the news agency said.  According to Musa, al-Bashir said debt is a joint responsibility of the north and the south "under joint negotiations of the two partners," the news agency said.  A representative for The Carter Center who is in Sudan did not release an official response when reached by phone Tuesday.  In a piece written by Carter that appears on CNN.com, the 39th U.S. president said "the United States should resume normal relations with the government in Khartoum and support debt relief for the governments in both the North and South" if the referendum succeeds.  "In addition to the loss of one-third of its geographic area, the economic cost to the North of losing a large share of current oil revenues will hurt the economy significantly," Carter added.  Meanwhile, voters in Southern Sudan participated Tuesday in the third day of the week-long referendum.  The south would become a new nation in July if voters choose independence and no other obstacles emerge.
Sudan's foreign affairs ministry is contradicting U.S. President Jimmy Carter's statement about Southern Sudan's debt obligations.Southern Sudanese voters are heading to the polls this week to