KHARTOUM (AFP)
Sudan and Chad agreed on Tuesday to end their proxy wars and engage in direct talks and joint development projects to rebuild their war-affected border areas.
Chadian President Idriss Deby made a surprise visit to Khartoum for talks with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Monday after relations between the African oil producers had hit rock bottom with each capital supporting rebels fighting the other's governments.
"I came with an open heart and hands outstretched to turn a new page in Sudanese-Chadian relations," Deby told a gathering of Chadian and Sudanese nationals in Khartoum.
" I came with an open heart and hands outstretched to turn a new page in Sudanese-Chadian relations " Chadian President Idriss Deby He called on the armed Chadian opposition groups, who have camps in Sudan's Darfur region, to take part in Chad's elections and win power through the ballot box not with bullets.
"I will give you security guarantees so you can return to your country and ... rejoin civil society," Deby said of the Chadian "mercenaries", who in 2008 besieged the presidential palace in N'Djamena.
He invited Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in the restive Darfur region bordering Chad, to visit N'Djamena in the coming days.
"This visit has put a definitive end to all the problems between Sudan and Chad," Bashir told journalists after the talks. He said Sudanese and Chadian authorities and the presidents themselves would now be in regular direct contact. |
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Turning the page " I say to our people in Sudan and in Chad, we have completely turned the page on problems between us " Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir Bashir followed suit and said Sudan had "completely turned the page" in its conflict with Chad and was ready to fully normalize relations with its neighbor.
"I say to our people in Sudan and in Chad, we have completely turned the page on problems between us," Bashir said.
Bashir's adviser, Ghazi Salaheddin, told reporters the two were working to get a joint border patrol force on the ground and would undertake joint development projects including a road between Abeche in Chad and el-Geneina in Darfur, where the force's head quarters would be.
He said a protocol signed by both sides stated that neither country would host rebel forces from the other side and that those insurgents would be encouraged to join electoral or political processes.
Both presidents said they supported the Darfur peace process taking place in Qatar, and chief mediator Djibril Bassole in Khartoum welcomed the visit.
This visit will help the Doha talks definitely," he told Reuters. "Now that all the belligerents are in Doha we'll keep them there until we reach something."
"I hope we will reach something by the end of April. At least if we reach some kind of framework agreement before the election that could help the entire peace process."
Bashir said joint projects would be set up in the border area between both countries in order to help those affected by the Darfur conflict.
"A calm is not enough. Agreements and protocols alone cannot bring back confidence if politics are not included. It is time to outdo ourselves in order to seal this peace," Deby said.
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. |
