By DPA,
Cairo/Sirte : Heads of states from various Arab and African countries attended Saturday the opening of the second Arab-Afro summit, which will focus heavily on Mideast peace negotiations and the looming South Sudan referendum.
Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa, who gave a short speech at the opening, said the summit would hone in on key issues surrounding Palestinian-Israeli negotiations and the upcoming South Sudan referendum scheduled for January, which could decide the future of a unified Sudan.
The summit, which is taking place in the Libyan coastal town of Sirte, was opened by Libyan President Muammar Ghaddafi.
It is also being attended by Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, among others.
The last Arab-Afro summit took place 30 years ago, with this year’s organised by both the African Union and the Arab League.
According to a joint press release by the Arab-Afro Summit, the meetings would aim to “adopt a new strategic framework for Afro-Arab cooperation” and focus on peace and security, investment and trade, agriculture and food security, and cultural cooperation.