It looks like South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki is going to enter the diplomatic fray in Sudan. Mbeki appears to be ready to endorse the SPLA's "multi-lateral peace plan" for Sudan that would involve South Africa, Nigeria, and Egypt in negotiations. The implicit backing of Nigeria and South Africa would give the SPLA a lot of international diplomatic firepower, and clearly state the case the "sub-Saharan Africa" supports the southern Sudan's black tribes. For years Egypt has been worried about the Islamic radicals in Khartoum. The presence of Egypt and Nigeria gives the SPLA Muslim political allies as well.