From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Tue Sep 16 2008 - 16:36:27 EDT
Chad, Sudan to renew diplomatic ties, create peacekeeping force
by Patrick Fort
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
LIBREVILLE (AFP) - Sudan and Chad are to restore diplomatic relations,
which broke off in May, mediators said Tuesday, paving the way to create
a peacekeeping and security force on their common border.
The contact group, which comprises Gabon, Libya, Congo, Senegal,
Eritrea, Chad and Sudan, issued a statement Tuesday confirming the
breakthrough, five months after Khartoum severed ties accusing Ndjamena
of backing rebels in its Darfur region.
"Fruitful exchanges have enabled the firm commitment of Chad and Sudan
to formally restore diplomatic relations with the exchange of
ambassadors before the contact group's sixth meeting in October in
Ndjamena," it said.
The statement came after a contact group meeting on Friday to discuss
the issue in the Eritrean capital Asmara.
The meeting also decided to finalise preparations for a security force
of 1,000 Sudanese and 1,000 Chadian soldiers to protect observers who
would monitor the border.
"The contact group is committed to deploying a peacekeeping and security
force as soon as possible and open an operational command centre in
Tripoli," the Libyan capital, the statement said.
The details on the organisation of the security forces still have to be
"finalised", Chad's Foreign Minister Moussa Faki told AFP on Tuesday.
"We will have to finalise all that," Faki said by telephone from
Libreville. "The principle has been agreed. Chad supplies 1,000 men and
Sudan supplies another 1,000."
But Faki ruled out further joint operations between Chad and Sudan,
except those carried out under the control of EUFOR, the EU's
peacekeeping mission which has a presence in central Africa.
Chadian rebels welcomed the agreement but threatened to take arms again
if "a true peace process was not set in motion," rebel leader Abderaman
Koulamallah told AFP.
"We reiterate our desire for a true peace process in Chad. If there is
no peace process, there will be war," he said.
Sudan broke off diplomatic relations with Chad in May after Darfur
rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) launched an attack
near the capital Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
Chad denied any involvement but relations between the two countries have
long been difficult, with each country denying the other's accusations
that they are supporting rebel movements fighting against their
respective regimes.
"Sudan needs to sort out the problem of Darfur and stop trying to make
itself believe that Chad is part of the problem," Faki said.
The two countries also broke off diplomatic relations in 2006 for four
months after a rebel attack on Chad.
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