Libyan Leader Muammar Al-Ghaddafi on Tuesday arrived in Khartoum to hold talks with Sudanese leaders on an upcoming referendum in southern Sudan scheduled to be held on Jan. 9, 2011, Xinhua reported.
The mini summit is expected to bring together, besides the Libyan leader, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Sudanese First Vice-President and President of south Sudan government Salva Kiir Mayardit.
The summit comes less than 20 days ahead of south Sudan referendum, slated for Jan. 9, 2011. It is broadly believed that it could lead to the separation of southern Sudan.
"This summit tends to narrow the viewpoints between the Sudanese government partners, and it is an expression of the two political leadership in both Libya and Egypt of their sense that there is a danger threatening the region," Rabie Abdul-Atti, a Sudanese political analyst told Xinhua.
"The Egyptian and Libyan leaders would work to ensure that south Sudan referendum would not bring the situation in Sudan back to the first quarter because the forthcoming referendum until now is not standing on a firm base and does not depend on correct procedures," he added.
Abdul-Atti did not exclude possibility of the return of war between north and south Sudan because of the difference over south Sudan referendum, saying that "if the referendum is conducted on its present status, it would be jumping over the stages and it may lead to negative results including war."
He further expected that the Egyptian and Libyan leaders would propose for the government partners, the National Congress Party ( NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), postponement of the referendum to avail the opportunity for resolving the outstanding issues.
"If there is a logical vision, then logic indicate importance of postponing the referendum," he said.
The NCP and the SPLM have so far failed to overcome many outstanding issues including the country's disputed oil-rich area of Abyei, the issue of citizenship and the border demarcation between north and south Sudan.
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