Sudan census monitors anger south

Some 60,000 enumerators are carrying out the census

Up to 170 census monitors in southern Sudan have been told to return to the capital, Khartoum, after being accused of interfering with the count.

Southern officials said the monitors were not approved and were mostly from the north of the country.

The controversial first population count in 15 years will help determine how wealth and power are shared out.

The census was delayed at least four times because of arguments between the north and oil-rich south.

Senior southern census official Adwok Chol said Khartoum had sent a recognised team of 25 monitors, part of a team of national and international observers whose leader was appointed by the presidency in Khartoum.

"The others we don't know," he told Reuters news agency. "For their own safety and security they should not move around and should go back to the north."

The census was a key part of the peace deal signed in 2005 that ended years of civil war in Sudan and takes place ahead of national polls due next year.

There are some 60,000 enumerators are counting the estimated 40 million population monitored by some 200 observers.

The south only reluctantly agreed to let the census go ahead last week at the last moment but said they would not be bound by the results.

Officials in Khartoum say it is going well despite some people in Darfur refusing to take part.

The BBC's Amber Henshaw in Khartoum says these problems in themselves will not stop the census continuing, but the fear is that the results will be rejected by anyone who does not like them, which could spark more disputes further down the line.