Sudan’s Bashir receives message from Chadian counterpart on regional developments

September 13, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir Wednesday received a letter from his Chadian counterpart Idris Deby on regional developments, following recent accusations against the State of Qatar.

Last August, Ndjamena severed ties with Doha and accused the tiny state of being involved in “attempts to destabilize its territory from Libya”, and expelled the Qatari diplomatic mission from the Central African country.

In a speech delivered on the occasion of Eid Eid al-Adha on 4 September, President Deby further accused Qatar of supporting terrorist groups in the Sahel region.

“Terrorists or mercenaries, it is the logic that Qatar nourishes today to destabilize all the countries south of the Sahara, but particularly your country Chad. Thanks to God, thanks to the strength of the Chadian nation, all these mercenaries and terrorists will fail,” he said.

The letter was handed over to al-Bashir by a high-level delegation led by the Minister Of Local Governments Bashir Ali Suleiman, including Defence Minister Busharah Issa Jadallah and Presidential Security advisor Jadou Salih.

“The message deals with the situation in the region, particularly in Libya and the Central African Republic. Also, it exchanged views on what is happening in the Arab arena,” said Sudan’s Ambassador to Ndjamena Abdel Aziz Hassan Salih who attended the meeting.

Salih said that the coordination at the leadership level in the two countries is continuing.

He further said that the relations between Sudan and Chad are strategic relations that will not be affected by any developments, stressing that Presidents al-Bashir and Deby personally oversee the relations between the two countries.

While Khartoum keeps a neutrality in the Gulf crisis that erupted last June, Ndjamena supported Saudi Arabia, Chad supports Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations in this regional rift.

French newspaper Le Monde on 11 September said the Chadian president uses this crisis to serve as the best regional ally for the United Arab Emirates which plans to counter the Qatari influence in Western Africa and Sahel countries.

The daily said President Deby met several times recently with the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

Le Monde underlined the presence in Libya of several Chadian rebels alongside the Libyan National Army’ of the renegade General Khalifa Haftar. Among these groups, a group led Mahamat Hassane Boulmaye and the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR), led by Timan Erdimi.

Erdimi is based in Doha since 2010 on the requested of President Deby after a political agreement with the Khartoum providing to cease support to their respective rebel groups.

(ST)