East African leaders meeting in the Ethiopian capital have urged Sudan’s north and south to resolve their differences ahead of the upcoming referendum on southern independence.
Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, and southern Sudanese leader Salva Kiir attended the summit in Addis Ababa Tuesday to pave the way for the January 9 vote.
The meeting ended without agreements on key disputes, including border demarcation and oil revenue-sharing in the event of secession.
But some regional leaders expressed hope that the two sides are close to a resolution for the oil-rich Abyei region.
The plebiscite is one of the final elements of the 2005 peace agreement, which ended a deadly 20-year civil war.
A separate referendum is to decide on whether Abyei is to be part of northern or southern Sudan.
Kenya’s ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union, Monica Juma, said a deal on Abyei appears to be close under the guidance of a high-level panel led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi expressed a similar thought after an hour-long meeting with Mr. Bashir and Mr. Kir. He said mediators are closer to creating a right environment for the negotiations on Abyei to be held later this week.
Kenya’s acting foreign minister, George Saitoti, said Monday there is still a window of about 10 days in which to reach a deal that would allow the referendum process to proceed smoothly.
Some information in this story was provided by AFP.
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