Sudan agrees to resume diplomatic relations with Chad

July 17, 2008 (DAKAR, Senegal) — Sudan’s president has agreed to resume diplomatic ties with Chad, one month after severing them following an unprecedented rebel attack near the Sudanese capital, officials said Thursday.

President Omar al-Bashir accepted the turnaround after an appeal by Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade, who has been trying to broker peace between the two sides, according to a statement issued by top officials from both countries meeting in Senegal.

Sudan accused neighboring Chad of supporting Darfur-based rebels who launched an attack near Khartoum in May that was the closet they had ever come to hitting the seat of Sudan’s government. Sudan cut diplomatic ties with Chad immediately afterward. Chad in turn closed its border with Sudan and halted bilateral trade.

Wade brokered a peace agreement in Dakar in March that was signed by the presidents of Sudan and Chad. The deal was meant to suppress attacks by armed groups operating along their shared border, but it has failed to ease instability in the region.

The statement was issued late Thursday after a meeting chaired by Senegal, which was attended by Sudan Foreign Minister Deng Alor and his Chadian counterpart, Moussa Faki Mahamat.

(AP)