By Jason Benham
JUBA, Sudan, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Ibrahim Akasha sits outside his office in south Sudan&${esc.hash}39;s capital Juba -- one of hundreds of northerners who are dismissing fears of reprisals to stay and build on businesses in the region after its expected secession.
"My life is here. I was born here. I have been here during the wars. How can I go to Khartoum", said Akasha, days ahead of the scheduled Jan. 9 start of a referendum, giving southerners the choice whether to declare independence.
His resolve is in sharp contrast to tens of thousands of southerners who have left the north in recent months, many of them unnerved by reports they could be stripped of their citizenship and lose basic rights once the south splits away.
There have been similar warnings about northerners in the south -- aid group Refugees International last month called for more protection of northerners "who may be forcibly expelled or harassed".
Everyone also remembers how northern traders were targeted in riots that broke out in Juba in 2005 after southern leader John Garang died in a helicopter crash.
But the gloomy predictions seem out of place in a capital gripped by giddy celebrations in the build-up to the vote.
Garang&${esc.hash}39;s successor and south Sudan&${esc.hash}39;s president Salva Kiir has also repeatedly promised that northerners will not face any harassment.
Akasha, whose father moved to the south in 1904, also has the right to vote and his office is decorated with a poster reading "Vote for development -? separation".
"We like secession because we need a change -? there was not enough help from the north to achieve unity. If they helped more then I think the south would have voted for unity," he said.
Akasha&${esc.hash}39;s father came from the Gaalien tribe in northern Sudan, one of the most prominent there, and grew up in the town of Shendi, before moving to south Sudan.
"He came on foot with the (British) army. He sold cigarettes and soap to the army along the way ... My father married my mother here in Juba. My father was a merchant. Now I am a merchant. I stay here in the south and I like it here in the south. I will stay here till I go to the grave."
BUSINESS INTERESTS
Akasha&${esc.hash}39;s family has business interests in hotels, insurance, construction and transporting basic goods from Khartoum to Juba, and is already planning for life after the referendum.
"Everything will change. My family is now saying &${esc.hash}39;What about the future?&${esc.hash}39;" Akasha said, adding his family would look at trade with neighbouring countries such as Kenya and even as far afield as Dubai.
Many of the 1,000 or so northerners who live in and around Juba have married southerners, developed strong social and business ties there and are able to practice Islam freely in a region of Sudan where most follow Christian or traditional African beliefs.
"You can go to the mosque and pray day and night. There are no problems regarding religion," said Abdullah Mohammed Abu Bakr, who came to the south from the Nuba Mountains in 1981 and later married a southerner.
Northern traders in Juba say they have not experienced problems with southerners refusing to do business with them, and do not expect violence to flare in the south or a return to war should the south secede.
Sudan&${esc.hash}39;s north-south civil war was fought over differences over ethnicity, oil, religion and ideology and claimed some 2 million lives. It ended in a peace deal in 2005.
"Definitely there will be no war. There would be no benefit to either side," said Al Safi Mohammed Berier, 46, originally from the White Nile province, who came to Juba in 1985 for business.
"During the last five years we have seen a lot of building (in Juba), a lot of development and a lot of income for traders and they are happy now so they want to keep this."
Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir visited Juba on Tuesday saying he would to accept the vote and promising to take part in independence celebrations if that was the outcome.
His visit was seen as allaying fears that the northern government would refuse to let go of the south, which has 70 percent of Sudan&${esc.hash}39;s oil output.
Many northerners are also reluctant to leave the south where business is booming.
Mohammed Miskeen, 35, came to Juba from al-Jazira province in the north of the country in 2007 and runs his own business selling mobile phones.
"There is a lot of business here, more than the north. The work is here," he said, standing near a car with a Symbol of Freedom flag attached to the rear. (Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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