Sudan army mutiny in southern oil state, 50 killed
* Southerners in northern units refuse to head north
* Joint north-south units separate before south secedes
By Jeremy Clarke
JUBA, Sudan, Feb 6 (Reuters) - At least 50 people have died as a mutiny in the Sudan army spread through towns in oil-producing Upper Nile state, stoking tension as the south prepares for independence, the military said on Sunday.
Heavy fighting, with tanks and machineguns, first broke out in the politically sensitive southern town of Makalal on Thursday, when members of an army unit refused to redeploy with their weapons to the north and turned on other members of their unit.
Fighting then spread from Makalal, Upper Nile's capital, to the settlements of Melut and Paloich on Friday and Saturday, state officials told Reuters.
The violence is a worrying accompaniment to the separation of Sudan's northern and southern armies and their military hardware ahead of the southern secession, expected on July 9.
Early results from a referendum in January show the vast majority of southern voters chose to separate from the north. Final results of the vote, promised in a 2005 peace accord that ended decades of civil war, are due to be announced on Monday. Continued...

