Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Wednesday said Egypt has proposed the establishment of a confederation between north and south Sudan.
During a speech at the Shura Council, Abul Gheit said, "Egypt has proposed a confederation to our brothers in Sudan, with the north and south remaining as independent states, each having its own army as well as an embassy in the other state."
"The Sudanese have requested some time to study the Egyptian proposal although they have some reservations," he added.
Sudanese Democratic Unionist Party leader Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani expressed hope that the southern Sudanese will vote for a united Sudan in the upcoming referendum, scheduled for 9 January 2011. The vote is a central component to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 between the Sudanese government and the southern rebel movement Sudan People's Liberation Army.
Following a meeting on Monday with Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa, al-Mirghani said, "We hope that a separation does not happen and we also hope for the confederation that both I and the late Dr. John Garang, the founder of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, have called for.”
Observers believe the establishment of a confederation is a suitable solution to Sudan’s complicated crisis, and one that would allow both the north and south to cooperate with their Arab and African neighbors as a joint economic entity.
Egypt fears the independence of a South Sudan will affect its share in the Nile waters. Under an agreement signed in 1959 between Cairo and Khartoum, Egypt receives 55.5 billion cubic meters annually.
