Chad rebel group says leader arrested in Sudan
Jan 20, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese authorities have arrested a rebel leader fighting the government of Chad amid heightened tension between the two neighbours that has soured the build-up to an African Union summit in Khartoum.
Abdelwahit About was arrested on Thursday after giving a radio interview that revealed he was in the Sudanese capital and said his group had friendly ties with Khartoum, Abdullahi Abdel Karim, part of the same Chadian opposition movement, said on Friday.
Since two monthes ago, in similar circonstances, Sudanese authorities arrested Mahamat Sileck, chief of the Tchadian opposition ANR after giving a press interview to a Sudanese daily newspaper.
Chad President Idriss Deby is boycotting the AU summit to start on Monday instead sending his foreign minister and Chad has opposed the candidacy of Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir as chairman of the African body.
Deby accuses Sudan of supporting the rebels, a charge Khartoum denies, arguing that he is trying to deflect attention away from internal problems. Chad also says it is in a “state of belligerence” with Sudan.
Sudan’s Foreign Minister Lam Akol said he had not heard about the arrests and denied there were any Chadian opposition leaders in the capital.
“I think he was arrested because he had given an interview with a journalist and they discovered he was in Khartoum,” Abdel Karim said. He declined to say why About was in Khartoum.
About and Abdel Karim are both signatories to a deal between eight Chadian rebel groups who agreed in late December to form the new United Front for Democratic Change, known as FUC.
The FUC was formed after Abdel Karim’s group spearheaded an attack on the border town of Adre last month in a bid to oust Chadian President Idriss Deby.
Abdel Karim said the FUC had officially requested a meeting with AU leaders at the summit but had yet to receive a reply. An AU official could not immediately confirm the request.
(ST/Reuters)