The controversial referendum to decide whether Sudan should be split in north and south is just three months away.<br /><br />Tension is already brewing along the border as the UN says it has confirmed that president of south Sudan had asked for a buffer zone to be created, fearing a military build-up in the area. The request has been labelled illegal by a senior Sudanese official if it goes ahead without the central government's approval.<br /><br />As Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa reports from Juba, southern Sudan's capital, there is also the contested Abeyi region that will have a separate vote to decide whether the region should join the north or south is also stirring trouble.<br /><br />Despite calls from the north to delay the process, leaders from Abeyi threaten to hold a referendum on their own. Leaders from both the north and south will meet later this month to resume talks on Abeyi. If they cannot agree on a way forward, some here in the south fear the oil-rich region of Abeyi could thrust Sudan back to war.
