African mini-summit on Darfur postponed – Libya

Jan 2, 2006 (TRIPOLI) – An African mini-summit on western Sudan region of Darfur and rising tensions between Sudan and Chad due to take place in Tripoli on Wednesday has been postponed, a Libyan official said Monday.

He said the delay followed calls from three of the countries due to take part — Chad, Egypt and Eritrea — without elaborating.

However, a diplomat in the Libyan capital said earlier that the meeting was called off because of the crisis between Sudan’s government and Ndjamena which has accused Khartoum of supporting Chadian rebels.

No new date has been set for the summit but it is now expected to take place after the Muslim feast of Al-Adha on January 10, the official said.

Chadian Deputy Foreign Minister Lucienne Dillah said Saturday that his country would be unable to attend the Tripoli mini-summit because of a meeting of central African leaders in Ndjamena on Wednesday.

On Friday, Chad made fresh claims Khartoum backed Chadian rebels, alleging the insurgents were given air time on Sudan television and Sudanese nationals had been captured taking part in a recent rebel raid on a Chadian border town.

Several new rebel groups have sprung up recently in eastern Chad, a region inundated by about 200,000 refugees from the civil war in Darfur, and Khartoum had accused Ndjamena of deploying planes and troops on its territory.

The mini-summit was to be attended by the heads of state of five countries: Sudan’s Omar al-Beshir, Libya’s Moamer Kadhafi, Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo, Chad’s Idriss Deby and the Central African Republic’s Francois Bozize.

The main aim of the meeting was to speed up the Darfur peace negotiations after the latest rounds in Abuja failed to produce a breakthrough.

(AFP/ST)