Sudan to summon Chad envoy over diplomatic break
April 14, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese foreign ministry will ask the Chadian ambassador to explain his government’s decision to severe diplomatic relations with Khartoum, a spokesman said Friday.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to request the Chadian ambassador to Khartoum to give an explanation of a decision taken by the Chadian government today for unilaterally breaking off its diplomatic ties with the Sudan,” Jamal Mohamed Ibrahim told the official SUNA news agency.
Earlier Friday, Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno said in N’Djamena his country was breaking ties with neighbouring Sudan, which he has accused of backing a rebel bid to topple him.
“We decided at a cabinet meeting this morning to break off relations unilaterally with Sudan, which continues to arm mercenaries opposed to the Chad government,” the president said.
Sudan’s Ibrahim said his country “respects the international and regional conventions that call for maintenance of good-neighbour relations.”
He said statements by international and regional organisations, including the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC), “distanced the Sudan from the charge of intervention in the internal affairs of Chad.”
Ibrahim cited a recent AUPSC statement in which he said the African body had appealed to the Chadian government to initiate dialogue with all Chadian political forces, including the Chadian rebel movements.
The statement “has not included any indication of a Sudanese involvement in the conflict,” he said.
Sudan “is fully committed” to the recent Tripoli Agreement sponsored by the AU, which he said had provided for committees to address the Sudanese-Chadian dispute.
“The Chadian side has to abide by this agreement, instead of transmitting messages indicating that it is walking back on it,” the spokesman said.
Tension between the two countries has been mounting since December, when Chadian rebels attacked the eastern town of Adre, near the Sudanese border, and several camps for refugees from neighbouring Darfur.
In February, Sudan and Chad signed a peace deal aimed at resolving tensions caused by the three-year conflict in Darfur.
They agreed not to shelter rebels on their respective territory and not to conduct hostile activities against each other.
(ST/AFP)