Sudan Chad contact group decides to deploy border monitors
April 11, 2008 (LIBREVILLE, Gabon) — The group of contact established by Dakar Agreement between the Sudan and Chad has agreed to deploy military monitors through the 1500 km long common border between the two countries.
According to a non-aggression deal signed in the Senegalese capital, on the sidelined of the Islamic Conference summit on March 13, the parties agreed to deploy a peacekeeping force to ensure stability on the joint border and to establish a contact group composed of Congo, Eritrea, Gabon, Libya and Senegal.
It its first meeting held in the Gabon capital, Libreville, on Saturday, the contact group charged with promoting the implementation of the signed agreement decided to hold a meeting on April 28 in Tripoli with the participation of military expert from Sudan and Chad to discuss the deployment of the African force.
The conclusions of the April 28meeting will be discussed at the second meeting of the contact group scheduled to be held in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, according to the final communiqué.
The contact group, which demanded the two parties to respect the signed agreements, decided to urge the establishment of the force in light of accusations and counter accusations which always engaged Chad and Sudan.
During the closed doors meeting the Chadian delegation has renewed its accusations for Khartoum of harbouring rebels opposed to the regime of N’Djamena.
The Chadian delegation demanded that the Sudan is officially recognized as the aggressor, allegations once again denied by Khartoum which, in turn, has accused its neighbour of using the Darfur rebels to destabilize its territory.
The Sudanese Chadian military experts meeting will study the logistics and troops needed for the establishment of the monitoring force.
Already, Libya has pledged a total of 2 million U.S. dollars to finance the operations of the force, while Senegal and the Republic of Congo have pledged to provide troops to man the operation.
Sudan was represented by the secretary general of the foreign ministry, Mutrif Sidiq while Chad and the members of the group contact were represented by their foreign ministers. Also representatives from the United States, France, the UN, the European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) took part in the meeting.
In the past Sudan accused Chad of foot dragging on the deployment of the African monitoring force, a matter the two countries had agreed since the Tripoli agreement in February 2006.
(ST)