EU Welcomes Peace Deal Between Chad, Sudan

Feb 14, 2006 (VIENNA) — The E.U. Tuesday welcomed a recent peace agreement between Sudan and Chad and has urged both countries to honor it.

“After the tensions following the attack on the town of Adre by Chadian rebels on 18 December 2005, the European Union sees this agreement as an important step towards the restoration of a climate of confidence and cooperation between the two countries,” Austria said on the E.U.’s behalf in a statement released Monday.

Austria currently holds the E.U.’s six-month rotating presidency.

“The European Union appeals to both parties to honor this agreement, in particular their commitment to refrain from hosting rebel forces of the other party on their respective territory,” the statement said.

Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir and Chad’s president Idriss Deby pledged Wednesday, after a day of talks hosted by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, “to immediately commit themselves to work to prevent the presence of rebels on each other territory,” Libya’s Jamhiriya news agency reported.

(AP/ST)