Chad, Sudan agree to normalize bilateral relations
July 26, 2006 (N’DJAMENA) — Chad and Sudan signed an accord Wednesday to normalize their relations, strained since the start in February 2003 of civil war in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
The two sides agree to settle disagreements by diplomatic means and not to use their territory to destabilise the other, according to the text of the agreement.
“Chad and Sudan decide to settle their dispute by diplomatic means and to open a new page in their relationship in mutual understanding, complementarity of their interests and consolidation of their bilateral relations,” the text said.
Chadian President Idriss Deby and Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir held a meeting on the sidelines of the African Union summit early this month, at the initiative of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Neighbours of oil producers Chad and Sudan, especially Libya, have been pressing the two governments to end their dispute and promise not to support rebel groups.
Deby accused Sudan of backing and arming the Chadian rebels, a charge denied by the government in Khartoum which has in turn accused Deby of supporting Sudanese anti-government insurgents in the violent Darfur region.
Chad broke off diplomatic relations with eastern neighbour Sudan in April after rebels fighting to oust him attacked the Chadian capital N’Djamena from the east.
(ST)