Sudan charges Chad of incursion, assisting rebels; Chad denies
Nov 24, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan accused Chad on Thursday of violating its airspace and assisting Darfur rebels in their battle against the government, the latest accusation of interference to be traded between the neighboring countries.
N’djamena promptly denied the charges and insisted it was working for a settlement to the crisis in the troubled border region.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry statement said the airspace violations took place Nov. 5 and 7, when Chadian Antonov planes flew at low altitude for about half an hour before they returned to Chad. It also accused Chadian forces of crossing the border several times and looting cattle.
“Continued follow up of events showed beyond any doubt the role being played by Chad in fanning the conflict and in providing assistance to the rebels in Darfur at a time Sudan allowed Chad to mediate a solution to the question of Darfur,” the statement said.
The statement did not name the rebels, but the Sudan Liberation Army, the main rebel group, includes members of the Zaghawa tribe, which lives in Chad and Sudan. Chadian President Idriss Deby is Zaghawa.
Chad’s Foreign Ministry quickly rejected the claims.
“These serious allegations are not friendly because Chad has not ceased to contribute to the peaceful settlement to the crisis in Darfur through its joint mediation with the African Union,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said Chad was still attempting to reconcile divisions within the SLA ahead of the next round of peace talks, due to begin Monday.
Sudan’s accusations come after Chad last week accused Khartoum of using Chadian military deserters who fled to Darfur to fight a small rebel group.
But Thursday’s Sudanese statement expressed “surprise” at the Chadian accusations, calling them “an attempt to export the current internal Chadian crisis.”
Sudan also accused an unnamed “country outside the region” of sending a plane carrying arms and ammunition to the rebels in Darfur. It did not name the rebel group or say where the plane landed.
However, the statement said Khartoum remained calm and was exercising self-restraint and working to resolve the problem peacefully.
Chad and Sudan have in the past traded accusations of supporting rebel groups against each other.
Last month Chad closed its consulate in Darfur, claiming that Sudanese militia crossed in September from the region and killed at least 36 Chadians. Chad’s Foreign Ministry asked Sudan to close its consulate in eastern Chad because security had deteriorated.
President Deby later said the killings were carried out by Sudanese militia involved in the Darfur conflict. He was apparently referring to Sudan’s pro-government Arab militia, known as Janjaweed, who are accused of committing widespread abuses against ethnic Africans in Darfur.
In April, Chadian officials accused Sudan of recruiting, training and arming 3,000 Chadian rebels near their border in an effort to destabilize Chad.
The Darfur crisis began when rebels took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin. Sudan’s government is accused of using the Janjaweed to unleash a campaign of murder, rape, arson and looting in an effort to stamp out the rebellion.
Chad has taken in some 200,000 refugees from the two-year conflict, and another 1.8 million are estimated to be sheltering in camps within Sudan. About 180,000 people have been killed — many from hunger and disease.
(AP/ST)