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Security Council alarmed by Sudan-Chad border tension

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 08 January 2008

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - The UN Security Council on Monday expressed serious concern about mounting tension along the Chad-Sudan border in the wake of stepped-up activities by rebel groups on both sides.

The 15 council members expressed "their serious concern at the recent upsurge of activities of the illegal armed groups in western Darfur and in eastern Chad, and at the resulting tension" between the two neighbors," according to a statement.

They urged Khartoum and N'Djamena to "exercise restraint and pursue dialogue and cooperation" while respecting their commitments under various peace deals.

They welcomed the progress made in deploying the UN force known as MINURCAT and encouraged contributors to make available to both it and the European Union force (EUFOR) "the personnel and resources required for the implementation of their mandates."

Up to 4,000 EUFOR troops are to deploy in Chad and the Central African Republic to help protect hundreds of thousands of war refugees from Sudan's neighboring Darfur region along with people displaced by internal insurgency.

Monday, Chadian air force planes attacked a Chadian rebel base across the border, southwest of El-Geneina in Darfur, a military source in N'Djamena said.

The source confirmed a report from Khartoum on Sunday that a similar attack had been carried out in the same Darfur region against rebels opposed to Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno.

Some 234,000 Darfur refugees, along with 178,000 displaced eastern Chadians and 43,000 Central Africans also uprooted by strife and rebellion in the north of their country, are housed in camps in the region, where many remain at risk because of insurgency.

Several rebel bases lie south of El-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) across the desert from Abeche, the main town in eastern Chad, but it was not clear which had been targeted.

Sudanese army spokesman Othman al-Aghbach said Monday that Chadian aircraft had bombed positions in the west of strife-torn Darfur early Sunday, killing and wounding civilians.

The attack followed a threat Saturday by Deby to pursue and strike Chadian rebels inside neighboring Sudan and repeated charges that Khartoum was trying to destabilize his country.

Relations between Sudan and Chad have turned from bad to worse, with Deby again accusing Khartoum of having a "destabilization plan" against his already volatile country.

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