Chad-Sudan group postpones Khartoum meeting
February 26, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese foreign ministry announced yesterday the postponement of a ministerial meeting of Dakar contact group tasked with the normalization of Sudan Chad relations.
Ali Sadiq, the spokesperson of the foreign ministry said the postponement is due to the conflicting schedules of some foreign ministers members in the group of contact without elaboration.
This is the second time that the ministerial meeting which is supposed to take place in Khartoum is delayed. The meeting was planned to be held on Saturday February 27. No date has been fixed for the next meeting.
The members of the contact group charged with the follow-up of the implementation of Dakar agreement are Eritrea, Congo (Brazzaville), Gabon, Libya, Senegal, as well as Representatives of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and number of observers.
According to a non-aggression deal signed in the Senegalese capital, on the sidelined of the Islamic Conference summit on March 13, 2008 the parties agreed to prevent rebel groups operating along their joint borders from destabilizing the region. They also agreed to deploy a peacekeeping force to secure the joint border.
The follow up group was seen is a real addition to the previous Tripoli, and Riyadh agreements to end the tension between the two neighbors. In the past accords Sudan and Chad accused each other of impending the enforcement.
The backbone of Dakar agreement was the stipulation that the joint border monitoring force is to be sustained by the group which initially pledged to finance it and provide troops.
The monitoring force would be composed of 1,000 Chadian soldiers and 1,000 Sudanese soldiers besides Senegalese and Congolese troops. Libya has pledged a total of 2 million U.S. dollars to finance the operations.
Sadiq said the adjournment is not related to the decision of the International Criminal Court over the application of arrest warrant for Al-Bashir which is set to be announced on March 4.
(ST)