Sudan President Omar al-Bashir has agreed to restore relations with Chad, mediator Senegal said on Friday, more than two months after Khartoum severed ties, accusing Ndjamena of backing Darfuri rebels.
Relations between Chad and Sudan have been difficult for more than five years, with the two countries regularly accusing each other of supporting rebel factions fighting against their respective regimes.
Diplomatic relations broke off in mid-May after an attack near the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, by a Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Ndjamena denied any involvement.
”The president of the republic of Sudan … accepts the restoration of diplomatic relations between Chad and Sudan in response to the solemn appeal from his brother, [Senegal] President Abdoulaye Wade,” a statement from the Senegalese Presidency said.
The West African country’s Foreign Minister, Moussa Faki Mahamat, has been mediating at talks in Dakar aimed at leading the bellicose neighbours on the path of conciliation.
Sudan severed diplomatic ties with Chad on May 11, accusing Ndjamena of backing a first Darfur rebel assault on Khartoum, and slapped a multimillion-dollar price on the head of the alleged mastermind.
The government eventually repulsed the JEM assault, which saw the insurgents reach Khartoum’s outskirts with the declared intent of toppling the regime.
But the accusations are often traded in the other direction. In February, rebels allegedly backed by Khartoum advanced as far as the gates of the presidential palace in Ndjamena before being repulsed. — AFP
