Chad says no plans to attack Sudan
Dec 25, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — Chad’s Minister of Defence Gen Bichara Issa has denied his country intends to launch a war on the Sudanese people, Sudanese daily newspaper reported.
In a press statement to Akhbar al-Youm, he said: “We have not declared war against Sudan but we said we would forcefully repel anyone who dares to attack Chad from outside its borders.” Issa added that Chad had the right to repel, pursue, attack and destroy any forces.
He further reiterated Chad’s accusation made against the government of Sudan, of supporting Chadian rebels and asked how the Chadian rebel leader Mohamed Nour, a mere captain in the Chadian army, could have possessed all the vehicles he used to attack Adri from within Sudan. He said the Chadian government would never allow any attack against Sudan to be launched from Chadian territory.
“Chad is today in a state of belligerence with Sudan. The friends of Chad must support it by all means possible in this ordeal,” government spokesman Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor told reporters pn Saturday 23 December.
Issa said Chad had supported Sudan against the rebels in Darfur and had become a mediator in the current Abuja negotiations.
He further reaffirmed the strength of the relationship between the citizens of Sudan and Chad saying that the overlap of tribes between the two countries prevented Chad from attacking these tribes.
Issa said captured hostages had confessed that they were Sudanese and that they were trained in Sudan. He said the situation was calm in Adri after the rebels had withdrawn from the town. He said he had visited Adri with President Deby on Thursday 22 December and rejected rebel claims that they controlled the east of Chad.
He said Chadian rebels were now inside Sudanese territory. The Chadian Minister of Defence called on Sudanese citizens to stand in the face of Chadian rebels and to demand the Sudanese government to dispel the rebels and stop them from harming Darfur.
The Sudanese Ambassador in N’djamena, Abdallah al-Sheikh, refused to comment on recent events. However, he said the situation was calm in the capital and that the situation of the Sudanese community in Chad was reassuring.
(ST)