President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan has reassured Southern Sudan he will help it even if it chooses to secede in a referendum on Sunday.
After arriving in the south's capital, Juba, Mr Bashir said that on Tuesday that although he would be "sad" if Sudan split, "I am going to celebrate your decision, even if your decision is secession."
"I personally will be sad if Sudan splits," Mr Bashir said. "But at the same time I will be happy if we have peace in Sudan between the two sides."
He then went into talks with the south's leader, Salva Kiir, on issues such as border delineation, citizenship and division of oil wealth.
The BBC reports the referendum is part of a 2005 deal that ended a war that lasted two decades. Mr Bashir and Mr Kiir were on opposing sides.
Officials say almost four million people have registered to vote, more than 95% of them in semi-autonomous Southern Sudan. Others have registered in northern Sudan and eight countries abroad.
The BBC says Mr Bashir's message will go a long way to reassure people that the north of Sudan is finally accepting that Africa's largest country is about to split in two.
Sudan is the third-largest producer of oil in sub-Saharan Africa.
