Sudan and Chad ruling parties sign cooperation agreement

March 3, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The National Congress Party (NCP) signed an agreement on Thursday with the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement (PSM) in Chad outlining cooperation in a number of areas.

Sudan official news agency (SUNA) said the accord was signed in Khartoum by the NCP’s foreign relations secretary Mustafa Ismail and PSM’s first deputy chairman of the secretary general Mohamed Ali Abdullah Nasr.

Among the clauses incorporated in the agreement is coordinating their political positions, forming joint committees that meets on a regular basis, exchanging publications and periodicals, work on repairing the social fabric, serving local communities through training and education programs.

Both sides also agreed to enhance their economic relations by leveraging on each country’s resources, market and infrastructure. This would involve establishing corporations that are partnerships between the public and the private sectors.

Last year, Chad and Sudan ended years of tense relations and agreed to end their proxy wars and work together to rebuild their border areas a move that was seen as crucial in bolstering security on both sides of the border particularly as related to the Darfur conflict.

(ST)