Chad’s Deby invited to attend Sudanese president swearing-in ceremony

May 8, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government today handed Chadian president Idriss Deby an invitation to attend the inauguration of his counterpart Omer Hassan Al-Bashir who won last month’s elections.

State media reported that the Sudanese defense minister Abdel-Rahim Mohamed Hussein paid a surprise visit to Ndjamena today accompanied by intelligence chief Mohamed Atta to review the border-security protocols and the status of the joint Chad-Sudan force to be deployed.

Earlier this year Chad and Sudan ended years of tense relations and agreed to end their proxy wars and work together to rebuild their border areas a move that was seen as crucial in bolstering security and credibility before impending polls in both nations.

From 2003 rebel attacks in Darfur and also within Chad had heightened tensions between the two countries with both sides accusing the other of supporting cross-border insurgents.

In May 2008 after Darfur rebels reached the outskirts of the capital Khartoum, Sudan broke off diplomatic relations with Chad accusing Ndjamena of backing the attack.

This was followed by a surprise rebel attack on Ndjamena which came close to overthrowing the Chadian president before government forces managed to rally and rout the insurgents.

Observers and international players have said that improving Sudan-Chad relations is crucial to ending the crisis in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

The United Nations estimates 300,000 died in Darfur’s humanitarian crisis, which began after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003.

(ST)