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Chad regrets Sudan’s decision to break diplomatic
ties
Ndjamena—Chad’s government said Sunday it regretted
Sudan’s decision to break off diplomatic relations over a Darfur
rebel attack on the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
The Chadian government had learnt of Sudan’s decision “with the
greatest surprise,” said the statement. “Chad can only taken note of
this hasty decision with regret,” it added.
The statement also deplored the fact that its embassy in Khartoum
had been ransacked.
Sudan announced earlier Sunday it had cut diplomatic ties with Chad,
accusing its neighbour of having been behind the Darfur rebel attack
on Khartoum the previous day, the first ever such assault on the
capital.
“We are forced to sever diplomatic relations with this regime” in
Chad, President Omar al-Beshir said on state television following
the attack on the capital’s twin city of Omdurman just across the
river Nile from Khartoum.
The government said it had repulsed the assault by the Justice and
Equality Movement (JEM), allegedly backed by Ndjamena, which saw the
insurgents reach Khartoum’s outskirts with the declared intent of
toppling the regime. The statement from the Chadian government added
that uniformed men had ransacked its embassy in Khartoum.
“Men in military uniform on Saturday came into the embassy property,
which they pillaged, carrying off in particular documents and
computer equipment. “For its part, the Chadian government has taken
strict measures to reinforce security around the offices and the
residences of Sudanese diplomats in Ndjamena,” the statement added.
Chad hoped that the Sudanese government would resume “fraternal and
peaceful relations that must prevail between the two countries.” The
two countries have long accused each other of backing rebels seeking
to topple their respective regimes.
Earlier this year, Ndjamena accused Khartoum of having backed an
alliance of Chadian rebels who in early February entered Chad from
Darfur and fought their way into the capital Ndjamena before
eventually being forced back. But on Saturday, Chad denied any
involvement in the assault by the JEM forces and condemned the
attack.
The JEM is the most powerful of the rebel groups currently actively
in the western Darfur province of Sudan. The situation is
complicated by the fact that Chad is currently hosting more than
240,000 Sudanese refugees from the bloody conflict in the Darfur
region.—AFP
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