Sudan hails new Chad mediation in rebellion-hit western Darfur : report
KHARTOUM, Feb 3 (AFP) — The Sudanese government has welcomed Chadian President Idriss Deby’s decision to renew mediation for a peaceful settlement between Khartoum and rebels in western Sudan.
North Darfur Governor Osman Yousuf Kibir was quoted by independent Akhbar Al Youm daily on Tuesday as saying he was notified of the new mediation bid by his Chadian counterpart, the governor of Chad’s eastern Wadi Ferra State, at a meeting in the border town of Tine last Saturday.
Kibir said he discussed with the governor the conditions of the 100,000 refugees who crossed the border into Chad fleeing the fighting in Darfur.
He added that Tine Commissioner Colonel Ahmed Mussa Nimir would pay a visit to Chad in the near future for “further coordination.”
Kibir said 28 trucks carrying 840 tonnes of food, medicines and blankets arrived in Kutum on Monday to help ease humanitarian problems, while another relief convoy was due in the next couple of days in Tine and Um Beru.
Sudanese forces last week regained control of the Sudanese half of Tine from rebels, backed up by an air raid Thursday which killed several civilians, sources close to the Chadian army said.
Though welcoming the peace move, North Darfur governor asserted that the army had full control of the security situation while the rebels “are experiencing full collapse and their remaining elements are fleeing pursuit by the government troops in disarray.”
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir has generally taken a hardline against the rebels.
“We have to sternly confront the terrorism, armed robbery gangs and highwaymen in Darfur to spare the blood of the innocents and to restore security to the citizens,” Beshir said in a speech on Sunday.
“Our priorities in Darfur are to annihilate the armed robbery bandits and outlaws and then to collect weapons and leave them only in the hands of the armed forces and other regular forces,” he said on the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Deby said in Ndjamena Friday that his government would make another attempt to bring peace to Darfur.
Rebels in Darfur launched a rebellion to protest against alleged government neglect of the semi-desert region in the west of the country. Clashes have intensified since peace talks in Chad collapsed on December 16, and so far the rebellion has cost about 3,000 lives.
The violence has also forced about 100,000 people to flee into the east of Chad. Some 670,000 have been displaced within Sudan itself.