Sudan top priority for Security Council

LONDON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- London will place Sudan at the forefront of U.N. Security Council debates as it assumes the rotating presidency of the body, the foreign secretary said.

London takes the rotating presidency at the Security Council for November. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London considered Sudan a high-priority topic during its presidency.

He said he would lead a Security Council debate on Sudan on Nov. 16, where the focus would be on the steps needed to complete a January referendum on time.

South Sudan is voting for self-determination in January as part of a comprehensive peace deal brokered in part by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2005.

Residents in the central Sudanese area of Abyei will also vote on whether they want to joint North or South Sudan.

Hague said London would "push for timely completion" of the peace deal through the January measure.

Election officials with the United Nations said more than 3,000 voter registration kits were delivered during the weekend in preparation for a registration drive.

Washington added that it believes the January measure is on schedule "but clearly, the parties need to come together, make some decisions and then take the appropriate actions to prepare not only for that referendum but also the one regarding South Sudan."