Chadian army officers join border monitoring command in Sudan

March 24, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Chadian military officers, who are part of the joint Sudan-Chad command formed recently to monitor the border, arrived to the capital of West Darfur state, El Geneina, where they are based, the Sudanese army announced today.

Sudan and Chad agreed on February 5 to deploy some 3000 troops along the joint border to end cross-border rebel attacks from the both sides. They also agreed Sudan will lead this joint command for the first six month and El-Geneina will be its seat.

Alsoarmi Khaled Saad, spokesperson of the Sudan Armed Forces, said the Chadian commanders reaffirmed that their troops to the joint force are gathered in the town of Adre, near Sudanese border, with armament and equipment, the official SUNA reported today.

He added this move represents the beginning of the process of troop deployment, on the specific sites, jointly with the Sudanese forces.

The commander of Sudanese troops, Brigadier General, Ahmed Awad El-Karim stressed that the deployment of his troops is in good shape, adding that there are good coordination and convergence of views with Chadian army officers.

Sudan and two rebel groups have signed a ceasefire agreement in February and March. The signatories from the rebel side are both more connected to Chad than a third one based in Jebel Marra but is not yet involved in the peace talks.

The Chadian rebels who were based in Sudan have reportedly moved to Central Africa Republic as President Idriss Deby refuses to negotiate a peace deal with them.

(ST)