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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Oct 10 2010 - 12:56:09 EDT
Sudan secession will be dangerous precedent-Gaddafi
Sun Oct 10, 2010 1:47pm GMT
* Sudan to vote in Jan. 9 referendum on south's independence
* Libyan leader says 'Yes' vote will frighten off investors
* Gaddafi also apologises for Arab slave trade in Africa
By Ali Shuaib and Lamine Ghanmi
SIRTE, Libya, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Separatist conflicts could spread through
Africa like a disease if Sudan decides in a referendum early next year to
split into two, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Sunday.
Sudan is scheduled to start voting on Jan. 9 in a referendum on whether to
grant independence to the oil-producing south of the country, which fought a
war with Khartoum before agreeing a peace deal five years ago.
Gaddafi, speaking at a summit of African and Arab leaders in the Libyan city
of Sirte, said the world had to respect the outcome of the referendum, but a
vote in favour of independence would create a dangerous precedent.
"What will happen in southern Sudan (if it becomes independent) will be a
disease and will spread to all of Africa," Gaddafi said. "Africa needs
foreign investment and stability. With this precedent, investors will be
frightened to invest in Africa."
Sudanese state media quoted President Omar Hassan al-Bashir accusing
southern leaders of a failure to respect the terms of their peace deal and
warning of renewed conflict if differences are not settled before the
referendum. [ID:nHEA023558]
SLAVERY
In power since he led a coup in 1969, Gaddafi is Africa's longest-serving
leader. His country's oil wealth and the millions of dollars it hands out to
African countries in aid and investment give him diplomatic weight on the
continent.
Gaddafi chaired a session of the Arab-African summit, which is designed to
bridge differences between the two regions and encourage Arab investors to
put money into African projects.
Gaddafi issued in his speech an apology for what he said was the Arab
world's shameful history of trading African slaves. Historians say Arab
traders seized millions of sub-Saharan Africans and sold them into slavery
in the Middle East and North Africa, a practice that went on for hundreds of
years and continued in some forms into the 20th century.
"I regret the behaviour of the Arabs...They brought African children to
North Africa. They made them slaves. They sold them like animals. They took
them as slaves and traded them in a shameful way," said Gaddafi.
"I regret and I am ashamed when we remember these practices. I apologise for
this," he said. (Writing by Christian Lowe)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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