Egyptian president and Libyan leader to visit sudan for talks

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Mubarak, Qaddafi to visit Sudan for talks with Al-Bashir after Obama letters

 

December 19, 2010 (NAIROBI) – Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak and the Libyan leader Muammar Al-Qaddafi will both arrive in Khartoum on Tuesday for talks with Sudan president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir as his country hurtles towards a vote in January 2011 on the independence of south Sudan region.

 

 

Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak (File photo taken from www.allvoices.com)Sudan’s official News Agency SUNA reported on Sunday that the two dignitaries would hold talks with Al-Bashir in order to discuss the overall situation in Sudan as well as issues of common interests.

 

The high-profile visit comes as the semi-autonomous region of South Sudan prepares to seize a historic opportunity to gain full independence from the north when its citizens go to the polls on January 9, 2011.

 

The highly sensitive plebiscite is a key plank of a 2005’s peace deal that ended decades of civil war between the mainly Muslim north Sudan and the south where most people follow Christianity or traditional beliefs.

 

Al-Qaddafi and Mubarak’s visit also follows news reported on Sunday that U.S President Barack Obama had recently sent letters to a number of regional leaders underscoring his administration’s increasing focus on Sudan’s referendum and the situation in Darfur region.

 

Darfur region in western Sudan has been the scene of an armed conflict since 2003 when rebels belonging mostly to African ethnicities took up arms against the central government in Khartoum, accusing it of marginalizing the region in terms of development and wealth-sharing.

 

The rebellion promoted Khartoum to launch a counterinsurgency campaign whose end result was the death of 300,000 people and displacements of 2 million, according to UN figures.

 

Mike Hammer, the White House National Security Council spokesman, said that Obama’s letters had made it clear that “Sudan is one of the [uS] administration’s top priorities.”

 

According to Hammer, the letters were part of “an ongoing diplomatic push to emphasize the importance that Washington places on a peaceful Sudan,” as quoted by Reuters.

 

Libya’s leader Al-Qaddafi received one of Obama’s letters, as reported by the country’s national T.V on Saturday.

 

In another vein, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdul Aziz arrived in Sudan on Sunday for a three-day official visit. He was received at Khartoum airport by Al-Bashir, according to the Mauritanian news agency.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Leaders of Egypt And Libya Flying to Country Next Week - Report

16 December 2010

 

Khartoum — The Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will arrive in Khartoum next Monday for a summit with president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and his First Vice President Salva Kiir, local media reported.

 

The mini-summit will tackle the challenges surrounding the South Sudan referendum slated for next January and arrangements should the country end up breaking up into two to ensure that the process runs smoothly.

 

Tensions are running high between North and South Sudan particularly after the end of the voter registration process. Bashir's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) said that the process was marred by violations and irregularities that need to be addressed by the referendum commission.

 

The Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) on the other hand accused the North of intimidating Southern voters so that they pick unity in the referendum.

 

There was no official confirmation of the visit by the Egyptian and Libyan leaders to Khartoum.

 

Relations between Sudan and Libya reached a low point after Tripoli asked Bashir to cancel his appearance at the Africa-EU summit they hosted last month.

 

The EU bloc had threatened to walk out if Bashir shows up as he is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and genocide he allegedly orchestrated in Darfur.

 

Khartoum issued an angry statement afterwards directing explicit criticism at the EU and subtle one at Libya for succumbing to European pressure

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Mubarak, Gaddafi to discuss referendum developments with Sudanese president

AFP Mon, 20/12/2010 - 12:52

Photographed by EE staff .....Prev Next Pause Play .1 ....Khartoum--Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Libya's Moamer Gaddafi will visit Khartoum this week for talks with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, ahead of a referendum on southern independence, the official SUNA news agency reported on Sunday.

 

During their visit on Tuesday, the visiting Arab leaders will discuss "current events in the country" and "the importance of relations" among the three neighbouring African countries, SUNA said in a short dispatch.

 

Southerners are set to vote in a referendum on 9 January on whether to remain united with the north or break away and form their own country.

 

The vote is a key plank of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south that put an end to more than two decades of civil war.

 

Analysts are predicting that the southerners will opt for independence, and senior officials in Khartoum are even beginning to accept the idea of the split.

 

Mubarak and Gaddafi held a telephone discussion about the "latest developments in Sudan," Egypt's official MENA news agency reported on Sunday.

 

It also reported that Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit met Sunday with Sir Derek Plumbly, head of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission that monitors implementation of the CPA.

 

Gheit said that international and regional countries should support the two main players in Sudan, Bashir's National Congress Party in the north and the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the south, MENA reported.

 

"The current circumstances in the country need concerted international and regional efforts to support the two ruling partners the National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)--to reach a compromise on pending issues to maintain peace and security across Sudan," MENA quoted Gheit as saying.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]