JUBA, Sudan, Jan 13 (Reuters) - South Sudan's independence referendum will meet international standards, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who is observing the plebiscite, said on Thursday.
"I believe it will meet international standards on the conduct of the process and also the freedom with which people have cast their votes ... We have two more days to go, obviously, but I don't think there is any doubt the results will be accepted without serious challenge," Carter told journalists in the southern capital, Juba.
Southerners are widely expected to vote to declare independence from the north in the week-long vote -- a plebiscite promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of north-south civil war.
Many northerners are angry about the referendum, which could deprive them of a quarter of Sudan's territory and most of its known oil reserves.
The poll, which started on Sunday, has been marred by fighting between southerners and Arab nomads in contested border areas. At least 46 people have died since Friday, according to reports from both sides.
The referendum's organising commission said on Wednesday that the turnout would pass the 60 percent minimum needed to make the result binding. (Reporting by Jeremy Clarke; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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