Sudan’s Beshir begin talks in crisis-hit Darfur with Chad president
N’DJAMENA, July 10 (AFP) — Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir held talks in Darfur with his Chadian counterpart, Idriss Deby, on the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn region of western Sudan.
The governor of West Darfur, Suleiman Abdullah Adam, had earlier Saturday been quoted on Sudanese state radio as saying that the two leaders would discuss the formation of a joint force to be deployed along the border between the African neighbours.
On Friday, Chadian interim Defence Minister Emmanuel Nadingar and his Sudanese counterpart, General Bakri Hassan Saleh, discussed the ways and means of deploying a one-thousand-strong joint force to patrol the border area.
Beshir and Idriss were to discuss their conclusions at a second meeting, due later Saturday, in the Sudanese town of Geneina, just 20 miles (12 miles) from the border with Chad.
The radio said deployment of the force was dependent on the disarmament of militia groups, such as the pro-Khartoum Janjaweed, which have been combatting the revolt in Darfur alongside the Sudanese army.
Beshir and Idriss last met Thursday in Addis Ababa with the presidents of Nigeria and South Africa and a decision was taken for the African Union (AU) to deploy an armed force to protect its ceasefire observers in Darfur as soon as possible.
Those talks came ahead of a meeting in Geneina on Friday between the defence ministers of Sudan and Chad to discuss the security situation in the border region and the fate of tens of thousands of Darfuri refugees in Chad.
Chadian Foreign Minister Nagoum Yassoum said in Addis Ababa that the AU force, to which Sudan has raised no objection, would be around 300 strong and that the number of observers would be increased.
The idea of such a force was first raised in late May in an agreement for the AU to monitor a shaky April ceasefire signed by Khartoum and Darfur rebel groups which rose up against the Sudanese government in February 2003.
About 25 AU observers are already on the ground in Darfur, where 15 months of conflict have spawned what the United Nations has termed the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.
The Geneina summit came after US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned on Thursday that the Sudanese government must honour its pledge of immediate action to stop bloodshed in the region or face sanctions.
At least 10,000 people have died, another one million been displaced inside Sudan and a further 120,000 have fled to Chad as refugees.
On June 17, armed clashes broke out on Chad’s side of the border between Chadian forces and the Janjaweed militias.
Tension between the neighbours was already running high after the Arab militias penetrated up to 25 kilometres (15 miles) inside Chad on May 5, triggering clashes with the Chadian army.
But Nadingar has said his country will exert “all possible efforts to help the Sudanese reach a peace settlement” in Darfur.