Sudan-Chad mission visits Darfur peacekeepers

November 7, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – An African Union fact-finding mission to Darfur, aiming to mend the increasingly fraught relationship between Chad and Sudan, visited the hybrid United Nations-AU operation in the troubled region today.

Led by former Burundian President Pierre Buyoya, the AU fact-finding team follows accusations from both Khartoum and N’djamena that the other side has been supporting insurgencies in its country.

Attacks by Chadian rebels on N’djamena in February preceded similar rebel assaults on Omdurman, near Khartoum, in May, leading to the escalation of tension between the two countries.

The fact-finding team met with the UN-AU mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in the context of AU efforts to normalize the relations between the two States after Sudan’s announced it was cutting off ties with Chad, claiming that it has helped Darfurian rebels attack the Sudanese capital.

“There is now an opportunity to move forward … It seems that there is a national consciousness that the Darfur issue has to be dealt with,” Mr. Buyoya said in an interview UNAMID radio.

“UNMIS [UN Mission in Sudan] before and then UNAMID have done a lot to protect the Darfur people and to assist the peace process in Sudan,” he added.

“The Government of Sudan, the African Union and the United Nations have reached a comprehensive agreement on the deployment of UNAMID.”

(ST)