Sudan suggests joint patrols to resolve border dispute with Chad

Jan 21, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan has called on its neighbor Chad to agree to set up joint patrols in border regions as a way to resolve border disputes that have strained their relations in the past month.

Al-Zahawi Ibrahim Malik, Sudan’s Minister of Information and Communication, said here Saturday that his country supported a proposal of Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi to put in place joint patrols to safeguard the border regions.

Describing the proposal as “reasonable” and “acceptable,” al-Zahawi said only joint patrols can ensure security of the area, given complicated situations caused by the mixture of tribes on both sides of the border.

He called on Chad to accept Ghaddafi’s proposal.

Chad accused Sudan of sheltering and backing Chadian rebels wholast month attacked a town on its eastern border with Sudan. Their relationship has since deteriorated after Chad declared a “state of belligerence” with Khartoum.

The dispute is adding to insecurity in the already-violent Darfur region, where according to Chad’s accusation, local militias backed by Khartoum have been raiding villages, occasionally straying over the border into Chad.

Khartoum denied the charges but has offered to set up joint patrols with Chad to make sure the security in border regions.

The dispute has cast a shadow over Sudan’s hosting of an African Union summit scheduled on January 23-24 in Khartoum, which Chad says should be held elsewhere.

(Xinhua)