2010-09-14 07:01

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he will convene a high-level meeting at the United Nations to discuss the situation in Sudan as it prepares for a vote on the self-determination of the south of the country.

The meeting will be held on September 24 on the sidelines of the annual high-level segment of the General Assembly, Ban told reporters in New York.

"We have to ensure that the two referenda, regardless of what the results may be, should be conducted in a transparent and peaceful manner. This will have larger regional implications," the secretary-general said. "This is almost the last opportunity for world leaders to discuss how we can make sure that this referendum will be successfully and transparently conducted."

The referenda are provided for in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed in 2005 and formally ended two decades of civil war between the northern-based government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in the south. Following the agreement, the SPLM formed the autonomous government of Southern Sudan.

Inhabitants of southern Sudan will vote on January 9 on whether to secede from Sudan or remain united with the rest of the country. On the same day, residents of Abyei area in central Sudan will vote separately on whether to retain Abyei's special administrative status in the north or become part of southern Sudan.

Ban also said he was happy that United States President Barack Obama "has made it clear publicly that he's going to participate in the high-level meeting on Sudan."