英语文摘：AL says south Sudan referendum highly transparent

KHARTOUM, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) Mission for monitoring south Sudan referendum on Monday said that the polling process was characterized by high transparency and integrity with international standards.

The AL mission concluded that it has monitored many advantages, including opening of the majority of polling stations in due time, provision of all logistic and polling materials, compatibility of boxes and insulators with the internationally accepted standards and specifications, according to a statement by the AL.

There are also some drawbacks including that underage voters, discrepancy between the number enrolled in some centers and the number registered on the lists of the commission, and lack of illustrations of the details and steps of the voting process, according to the statement.

The AL, however, stressed that those negative aspects do not affect the veracity of the process which was characterized by a high degree of transparency and integrity in line with international standards, eliciting respect for the outcomes produced by the ballot box.

The AL also referred to "effective" participation of women in the polling stations, cooperation of the heads of the centers with the voters and observers, facilities for the disabled and the elderly, and assistance for the illiterate in the voting, the significant and active presence of civil society organizations and international observers and the intensive presence of the local and international media.

Meanwhile, the AL urged all the concerned national and international parties to exert efforts and work collectively to achieve security, stability, and peace based on the principles of brotherhood, equality and justice in all parts of Sudan, and stressed the need for positive and constructive dialogue aimed at resolving all outstanding issues and post-referendum problems.

The AL observation mission comprises 80 observers who were distributed in 18 states of Sudan, 11 observers in the north, including the state of south Darfur, and seven in southern Sudan.