Chad and Sudan to deploy border patrols next month

January 16, 2010 (NDJAMENA) — Chad and Sudan agreed to deploy next month a joint force to patrol the troubled border between the two countries, says a joint statement released in the Chadian capital on Friday.

Khartoum and Ndjamena agreed recently following a visit by the Chadian foreign minister to the Sudanese capital last December to set up a joint technical committee to implement agreements signed between the two neighbors in the past years.

The joint military and security committee which was meeting in the Chadian capital since January 7 had initially to manage the deployment of the troops within two week.

The timetable was agreed by both parties under a Memorandum of Understanding “on the concrete steps to normalize relations between Chad and Sudan,” according to the joint statement.

“The manning of the outposts and securing of the border of two countries” should be effective “from 15 to 20 February 2010, while there will be held a” meeting of the Joint Committee on military and security “, according to the text.

On the Chadian side, an observation post is to be established in Abeche, eastern Chad, while from the Sudanese side, it will be installed in El-Geneina, the capital of west Darfur.

Chad and Sudan “were given a period of two months each to take the steps necessary to put an end to any presence, any support and any action by armed groups in one country or another” , said a diplomat who requested anonymity.

The Chadian President recently demanded the Sudanese government to disarm the Chadian rebels and to remove them from Darfur. He also urged to expel the leadership of the rebel groups from Sudan.

The normalization process takes place after several years of mistrust and bitterness between the two governments. It is seen as necessary step to settle the seven year conflict in Darfur region where some 300.00 people killed and some 2.7 other displaced.

(ST)