Yet for all the trappings of statehood that the south has striven to create, including a gaudy new flag and national anthem with strong echoes of The Star Spangled Banner, there is fertile ground for the North to sow division - primarily by supplying weapons to disaffected armed groups - in an attempt to cause the new country to collapse in on itself. On the eve of the vote, nine people were killed in an attack on SPLM positions close to the North-South border.