A high-profile United Nations meeting will be held Friday to discuss the referendum in January that could see a split and renewal of conflict between the government in Khartoum and southern Sudan. The meeting at UN headquarters would be attended by US President Barack Obama, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and African foreign ministers who were attending the General Assembly. Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir will attend, according to dpa. Sudan will hold a referendum in January to allow South Sudan decide whether to remain in the power-sharing government in Khartoum. Kiir is currently a vice president in the Khartoum government as part of the comprehensive peace agreement that ended two decades of deadly civil war between north and south in 2005.
