Libya proposes sending investigators to Sudan-Chad border

June 2, 2006 (TRIPOLI) — Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi proposed sending investigators to the conflict-hit Sudan-Chad border and Sudan’s Darfur region at the Sahel and Sahara group summit which opened in Tripoli on Thursday, reports from the Libyan capital said.

Presiding over the one-day summit, Gaddafi urged the African countries to end the conflicts which had affected the continent’s political stability and hindered its economic development.

He called on the 23-country group to send investigators to the Sudan-Chad border and deploy observers to the border area as well as Sudan’s troubled Darfur region, Xinhua news agency reported.

Eleven heads of state and government, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, attended the gathering which had been slated to last two days but ended on Thursday night ahead of schedule. It was Egypt’s first participation in the group’s summit.

Founded in 1998 mainly on Libya’s initiative, the Sahel and Sahara group is Africa’s largest political, economic, culture and security union.

(ST)