Deby meets Obasanjo over Sudan, formally protests ‘aggression’
Dec 27, 2005 (LAGOS) — Chad’s President Idriss Deby took mounting tensions with Sudan to President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, who chairs the African Union (AU), and formally protested at Sudan’s alleged “aggression”, a source in Obasanjo’s entourage said.
President Deby who met Obasanjo at his farm house in Otta (60 kilometres, about 40 miles north of Lagos), said he formally handed to the latter an official report of the aggression, a journalist in Obasanjo’s entourage told AFP by telephone.
“On December 18, Chad was a victim of aggression led by the government of Sudan. Adre was attacked. We host more than 300,000 Sudanese refugees. We are also mediators in the Sudanese crisis,” Deby, who spoke through an interpreter, told journalists after the meeting.
“We handed the AU chairman an official report of the evidence of the aggression against our country. We seek condemnation of the Sudanese action,” he was quoted as saying.
“We are satisfied with the idea of of an AU inquiry into the issue. A country with more than two million (internally) displaced persons does not deserve to host a summit of the AU.”
Sudan is to host a forthcoming AU summit, scheduled for January 23 and 24 in Khartoum.
“The extraordinary summit should be held in Abuja (the Nigerian capital). It is the best. The AU Constitutive Act provides for the elongation of the tenure (of the incumbent AU chairman) if need be,” he said.
Deby said his country has prepared a proposal to be presented to the AU for Obasanjo to continue as AU chairman so he could use his wealth of experience to solve all the problems in the continent.
Shortly before Deby’s arrival, Obasanjo had met a special envoy of Sudanese President Omar El-Beshir, who presented a special message to the AU chairman, the source said.
The special envoy, Mustapha Osman, left Otta before the arrival of the Chadian leader.
Osman presented his government’s side of the “differences” that exist between the two countries, presidential spokeswoman Oluremi Oyo told AFP.
Obasanjo said that an AU commission of enquiry will be set up to investigate contents of the two reports submitted by Ndjamena and Khartoum, she said.
Chad is a co-mediator in the Sudanese peace talks on the crisis in Darfur. The talks are being hosted by Nigeria.
Tension has been on the rise in the past days between Chad and Sudan following an accusation by Ndjamena that Khartoum was harbouring and supporting Chadian rebels who attacked a Chadian Adre locality last December 18.
Khartoum has denied the allegation.
Last Thursday, Deby accused Beshir of wanting to destabilise his country and said Sudan “merited” neither hosting AU summit, scheduled for January 23 and 24 in Khartoum, nor Beshir becoming the next chairman of the continental organisation.
Deby late Monday called for an extraordinary summit of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa before that of the AU.
He accused Sudan of preparing a new “aggression” by Chadian rebel groups operating out of Sudanese territory.
“I do not rule out the Khartoum government repeating another aggression against Chad,” Deby told reporters here after a two-hour meeting with Central African Republic President Francois Bozize.
Such an attack was being planned at El Geinena in western Sudan, “where Sudan has sent a motorized column some 50 vehicles strong,” Deby declared.
Khartoum had accused Ndjamena of deploying planes and troops on its territory before the latest incident.
The AU has in the past few days sent a delegation to Ndjamena and Khartoum as part of efforts to reduce the tension between the two countries.
(AFP/ST)