A delegation from the Arab League arrived today in Khartoum to review the country's preparations for the independence referendum and to prepare for an upcoming visit by Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa to Sudan. The delegation, headed by Samir Hosni, director of the Afro-Arab Cooperation Department, is scheduled to meet Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, head of the South Sudan referendum commission (SSRC), in order to sign a memorandum of understanding between the SSRC and the Arab League. Moussa will discuss several issues with Sudanese officials, with a particular focus on the development of the Darfur region. Meanwhile, Salah Abdallah Gosh, the presidential advisor for national security, urged the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to give South Sudanese citizens the liberty to express their opinion in the upcoming plebiscite. The Southern Sudanese secession referendum, slated for 9 January, could divide the largest country in the African continent into two, with analysts predicting the outcome of the referendum as that of separation. The SPLM alleges that the north is attempting to hamper the referendum in order to keep its grip on oil-rich regions. Meanwhile the ruling National Congress Party accuses the SPLM of preventing Southern Sudanese citizens in the northern states from registering.
