AU envoy calls on Sudan, Chad to ‘work together’

Nov 28, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — African Union envoy to Sudan Salim Ahmed Salim on Tuesday called on Khartoum and N’Djamena to cooperate to end the rebellions in their border areas.

“There’s a need for (Sudan and Chad) to work together to put an end to those conflicts,” Salim said.

The AU envoy was in Khartoum to hold talks with officials over the conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur which has spilled over into Chad and the Central African Republic.

Chadian President Idriss Deby and CAR President Francois Bozize accuse Sudan of supporting the rebel movements fighting against them. Khartoum categorically denies the charges.

Leaders from all three countries discussed the spreading violence during a mini-summit in Libya Tuesday.

“Durable peace in Chad is in the interest of Sudan and durable peace in Sudan is in the interest of Chad,” said Salim.

“You can choose your friends, not your brother and neighbours are brothers in spite of you,” he said, stressing that “Darfur is a source of instability” for Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic.

Salim said he raised the issue of Chad during a meeting with Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir Monday, and stressed that he would discuss Sudan whenever he next visits N’Djamena.

The conflict in Darfur started in February 2003 when ethnic minority rebels demanding a greater share of the country’s resources took up arms, prompting a scorched earth campaign by the government and its allied Janjaweed militia.

According to the United Nations, at least 200,000 people have died from the combined effects of war and famine, and over two million have been displaced since the fighting erupted in February 2003. Some sources put the toll much higher.

(AFP)