US envoy received by Chad’s Deby over Sudan ties

February 16, 2010 (NDJAMENA) – Chadian President Idriss Deby received the US Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration at the presidential palace on Tuesday. This follows an American declaration of support for President Deby’s reconciliation with President Omar Al-Bashir.

Negotiations between the presidents of the two countries last week resulted in a declaration of an end of hostilities. The two presidents gave one another security guarantees and agreed to move forward with setting up a joint border force.

According to the website of the Chadian presidency, Mr. Gration came to send his congratulations to President Deby and give encouragements from the White House over the Chadian leader’s “courageous and historic decision to dialogue directly and without intermediaries with his counterpart Omar Hassan Al Bashir in order to bring certain peace between Chad and Sudan.”

Likewise, US State Department Acting Spokesman Gordon Duguid said that the US envoy is “visiting Chad and Sudan in support of improved relations between those two countries to end the proxy war that’s going on along their border,”

“During the meeting, the American emissary discussed with the Head of State the process of normalization of relations between N’djamena and Khartoum and the security of the border,” stated the official source, pointing out that Gration asserted his support for this process. It added that Mr. Gration views normalization between Sudan and Chad as a boost to the Darfur peace talks being held in Qatar, Doha.

The former US general assured that the United States of America will continue to contribute to bring a return to stability to Sudan and the whole sub-region. Such peace would allow refugees to return home.

The US envoy’s visit had begun Monday, officials told Agence France Presse.

(ST)