Libyan Gadhafi appeals to Sudan and Chad to end differences
May 29, 2009 (SABRATA, Libya) – Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi appealed to the Presidents of Chad and Sudan on Friday to settle their differences and end the current tension between the two neighboring countries.
Sudan and Chad accuse each other of supporting rebel groups opposed to their government. Following an attack launched by the armed opposition from Sudan, Chad warplanes bombed rebel position inside the Sudan.
“We count on the wisdom of the two presidents (Bashir and Deby) and their responsibilities towards their people and Africa, to distinguish between the internal problems and the problems that bedevil relations between the two countries,” Gadhafi said during his speech at the summit of Saharan states in Sabrata, 70 km west of Tripoli.
The Presidents Omer Al-Bashir Idriss Deby attended were present at the opening session of the two-day summit of the 28-member Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD).
Gadhafi, who is also the chairman of the African Union, held separate meeting with the Sudanese and the Chadian leaders.
He met yesterday with President Omer Al-Bashir while held two meetings with President Deby the second one took place this evening, the official JANA reported without elaborating.
The Libyan leader said he would ask the two countries to put forward proposals to end the conflict between the two countries.
Paris had asked Gadhafi to exert efforts to end the current tension.
Sudan accuses Chad of harboring and arming Darfur rebels. Since, Khartoum supports the Chadian rebel groups who fighting against the authoritarian regime established by the President Deby.
The two countries signed several deals but they failed to implement it.
Last week, Libyan deputy foreign minister Ali Abdelsalam Al-Triki was in Khartoum where he delivered a message to Bashir from Gadhafi on the tense relations between Sudan and Chad.
Also, Khartoum and Ndjamena received the Qatari state minister for foreign affairs and pledged to re-commit themselves to an agreement they had signed on May 3 before the incursion of the Chadian rebels on May 4.
(ST)