Chad says Sudan behind talks’ deadlock with rebels
July 24, 2007 (PARIS) — Chad has blamed Sudan for the failure of peace talks with its opposition saying Khartoum interference in the reconciliation talks obstructs the conclusion of an accord.
Chadian president said talks with the Chadian opposition are deadlocked because Sudan is backing the rebels in their position. “The Sudanese authorities are preventing us from reaching a compromise to solve the crisis.” Idriss Deby told the Paris based Africa No 1 radio.
Libya is brokering the talks in Tripoli to try to end an insurgency by a coalition of Chadian rebels fighting a hit-and-run guerrilla war against President Idriss Deby’s forces in eastern Chad. The area has also been hit by a spillover of the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region.
The rebel Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) wants Deby to agree to a national political dialogue that would lead to early free elections. They also ask for the formation of a new cabinet led by a rebel leader.
President Idriss Deby Itno rejected the rebels’ demand, and blamed Sudan for the failure of the talks since the end of last June.
The Chadian president, who had sent a special envoy to Riyadh to inform the Saudi authorities, was in Tripoli on July 23 to hold talks with the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.
The negotiations between the Chadian Government and various rebel movements hidden away in eastern Chad which were taking place in Tripoli, Libya, have failed. The rebels asked for the formation of a new cabinet led by a rebel leader. President Idriss Deby Itno rejected the rebels’ demand, and blamed Sudan for the failure of the talks. Let us listen to Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno speaking to Jules Adjikomlan.
[Begin Deby recording] The negotiations started a month ago, but we are not making any progress simply because the Sudanese authorities are behind these rebel movements as you call them. The Sudanese authorities are preventing us from reaching a compromise to solve the crisis.
The Sudanese involvement in these negotiations considerably hinders the reaching of a solution.
Idris Deby postponed a visit to Khartoum scheduled to begin Wednesday June 27.
Chad has repeatedly accused Sudan of backing rebels in Chad and of supporting attacks in Chad by Janjaweed militia based in Darfur, where the United Nations says 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in ethnic and political conflict that flared in 2003.
The two countries signed a reconciliation deal brokered by Libya on February 6, 2006. Also they signed another agreement sponsored by the Saudi King on My 3, 2007.
The Chadian president demands that Sudan fulfils its obligations since the signing of the two reconciliation agreements. “We hope that they will live up to their commitments”. Deby said.
(ST)