DAKAR (Agencies)
On the sidelines of the 11th Islamic summit in the Senegalese capital, Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Beshir and his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby have signed an agreement after talks aimed at ending cross-border rebel attacks in a region including Sudan's war-torn Darfur.
The signing, witnessed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, followed talks in Dakar meant to revive a string of bilateral pacts that have failed to end fighting on both sides of the Chad-Sudan border.
The deal came after more than 24 dramatic hours of attempts by Wade to bring the two arch-rivals together in Dakar.
Both leaders were in the Senegalese capital to attend the meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference which opened on Thursday.
Beshir and Deby accuse each other of backing rebels seeking to overthrow their governments and there have been several clashes between their armies.
The text of the deal, released by Senegal's Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane, said "we solemnly engage to prohibit all activity by armed groups and to stop the use of our respective territories for the destabilization of one or other of our states."
The two presidents also committed to a personal reconciliation and to normalize relations between their countries.
They promised to help establish peace and stability in the troubled region already stricken by the Darfur conflict in western Sudan, on Chad's border. They also vowed to implement their past accords -- though widespread doubts have been expressed about the viability of any of the deals.
Beshir failed to turn up for one mini-summit after his arrival in Dakar on Wednesday night. Wade said Beshir blamed his absence on a headache.
The new deal followed the attack by three rebel factions that drove across southern Chad in late January to launch a bloody assault on Ndjamena on February 2-3 which left scores dead. It was pushed back by Deby's forces with French logistical help.
Deby accused Sudan of arming the rebels and letting them use bases in Sudan. The Khartoum government denied the claims.
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi brokered one peace deal in February 2006, and another was sealed in the Sudanese capital in August the same year.
Sudan, Chad and Central African Republic made another agreement in February 2007 not to let rebels from other countries use their territory. In May last year Deby and Beshir made another pact after praying together at the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine at Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Beshir made a new swipe at his rival on Tuesday. "After the prayers inside the Kaaba, hand in hand, we said: 'We have a deal, and may Allah punish he who breaks it,'" Beshir told reporters in Dubai.
"If the Chadian president failed to honor an agreement made inside the Kaaba, how can you expect him to adhere to an agreement he (might) sign in Dakar?" he asked. |
