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Chad, Sudan agree to halt attacks - officials

Chad, Sudan agree to halt attacks - officials
Written by Reuters
Monday, May 04, 2009 2:49:07 PM

DUBAI (Reuters) - Chad and Sudan have agreed to halt violence against each other and refrain from using force to resolve their conflicts, Qatari and African officials said at the end of reconciliation talks in Doha. The two oil-producing countries will work on implementing past agreements, Ahmad al-Mahmood, Qatar's minister of state for foreign affairs said on Sunday, the state-run Qatar News Agency reported.

Chad and Sudan resumed shaky diplomatic ties in November after cutting them in May. Khartoum had accused Chadian President Idriss Deby of involvement in an attack on the Sudanese capital by Darfur rebels on May 11, 2008.

Both African countries have long accused each other of supporting insurgent groups and rebel attacks inside their territories.

Sudan's Minister for International Cooperation Al-Tijani Saleh Fidail said the two African countries were not at war, but had border troubles, the agency reported. Past agreements collapsed because they did not have a way of implementing them on the ground, he added.

Chad's Foreign Affairs Minister Moussa Faki Mahmat said the only solution for the ongoing conflict was to find a mechanism to monitor the situation in both countries, the agency reported.

The porous border between Sudan and Chad has contributed to several conflicts, including the civil war in Sudan's Darfur region.

Qatar is boosting its role as a peace broker in the Middle East and North Africa by sponsoring peace talks between warring factions in Sudan, Yemen and Lebanon and hosting meetings between Palestinian and Israeli officials.

Libya, which co-sponsored the Doha talks, chairs the African Union, of which Sudan and Chad are members.

Labels: CHAD, SUDAN

posted by MrK @ 1:51 PM