Chad, Sudan agree on force to monitor troubled Darfur border
KHARTOUM, July 10 (AFP) — Sudan, under international pressure to take action to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, agreed with Chad to deploy a joint force along their troubled border, Chad national radio reported.
The agreement was reached between Sudan’s President Omar al-Beshir and his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby at a summit meeting in the Sudanese town of Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state located 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border.
The two leaders also agreed to create a security commission and a panel to review the damaged and pillaged property in two face-to-face meetings held before Deby returned to the Chadian capital Ndjamena, the radio reported.
The Geneina summit came after US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned on Thursday that the Sudanese government must honour its pledge of immediate action to stop bloodshed in Darfur or face international sanctions.
Fifteen months of conflict in the vast Darfur region which covers three states in the Sudanese federation has spawned what the United Nations has termed the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.
At least 10,000 people have died, another one million been displaced inside Sudan and a further 120,000 have fled to Chad as refugees, at times with Khartoum-backed Arab militias in hot pursuit.
Chad’s radio had said earlier Saturday that the force’s deployment was contingent on the disarmament of the Janjaweed militias which have been fighting a revolt by ethnic Africans in Darfur alongside the Sudanese army.
Speaking at a rally in Geneina, Beshir said his government would provide returning displaced persons with food supplies, seeds and farming implements.
The government will also resume work on development projects, such as construction of the highway for western Sudan that had been stopped due to the Darfur revolt launched last year, he said, quoted by Sudan’s state radio.
Beshir also expressed thanks to Deby for “all the assistance he has offered” in Darfur.
Beshir and Idriss last met Thursday in Addis Ababa with the presidents of Nigeria and South Africa, and a decision was taken for the African Union (AU) to deploy an armed force to protect its ceasefire observers in Darfur as soon as possible.
Chadian Foreign Minister Nagoum Yassoum said in Addis Ababa that the AU force, to which Sudan has raised no objection, would be around 300 strong and that the number of observers would be increased.
The idea of such a force was first raised in late May in an agreement for the AU to monitor a shaky April ceasefire signed by Khartoum and Darfur rebel groups which rose up against the Sudanese government in February 2003.
About 25 AU observers are already on the ground in Darfur.
On June 17, armed clashes broke out on Chad’s side of the border between Chadian forces and the Janjaweed militias.
Tension between the neighbours was already running high after the Arab militias penetrated up to 25 kilometres (15 miles) inside Chad on May 5, triggering clashes with the Chadian army.
But Chad’s interim Defence Minister Emmanuel Nadingar has said his country will make “all possible efforts to help the Sudanese reach a peace settlement” in Darfur.