Arab League regrets Chad-Sudan tension

April 11, 2007 (CAIRO) — The Arab League is in contacts with the various parties to follow up the Sudanese-Chadian situation, Secretary General Amr Musa said Wednesday, while calling for an immediate halt to their confrontations.

Confrontations between the two sides are “very regrettable”, he said.

“We hope that they stop immediately because they are two brotherly countries and their cooperation is extremely important to settle the pending problems,” he added.

Sudan on Tuesday said it would respond firmly to what it said was an attack by Chadian army forces that killed 17 of its soldiers and considered military action as an option.

Chad said it routed a major rebel attack launched from Sudan on Monday to destabilize its government, but Khartoum accused Chad’s army of killing its troops.

On the situation in Darfur, Musa said a meeting was held on the sidelines of the Riyadh Arab summit, adding that the league, the Sudanese government, the UN and the African Union were cooperating in this respect.

(ST)

Egypt has warned Chad of escalating tension with Sudan and advised N’djamena to play down bellicose rhetoric with Khartoum.

According to TTU, a Paris based newsletter on defence and strategy, Egypt has advised Chad to stop provocative incursion inside Sudanese territory reminding that it has a mutual defence treaty with the Sudan.

TTU said Cairo informed N’djamena aggression against Sudan would also affect its ties with Arab world.