Bangui and Khartoum differ on cause of border violence

Authorities in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan differ on the cause of brutal violence that populations on both sides of their common border have suffered since May this year. CAR military authorities claim that the region is being devastated by Sudanese poachers, while the Sudanese embassy in CAR considers the conflict to be a dispute among rival tribes. "In that zone there are many Sudanese poachers who disguise themselves as cattle herders and attack, kill, burn and loot entire villages," Gen Ernest Betibangui, Chief of Staff of the CAR Armed Forces, told IRIN on Monday. He said he took part in an assessment mission to the region in June. "We have deployed a military detachment to Gordil [1,000 km northeast of Bangui]," added Betibangui, who noted that thus far there had been no direct confrontation between CAR troops and Sudanese poachers, because "poachers always avoid military patrols". For its part, the Sudanese embassy in CAR blames the clashes on tribal disputes among rival tribes from both countries. "I cannot deny and I cannot confirm, because that zone is a free land where CAR, Sudanese and Chadian citizens move around freely," Khamis Hagar-Azat, counsellor at the Sudanese embassy, told IRIN on Wednesday, in response to allegations that Sudanese poachers massacred 20 CAR villagers in mid-September in Birao, 1,000 km northeast of Bangui. He added that if it were true, it was likely to have been a retaliatory act for the massacre of 53 Sudanese by CAR villagers on 17 May in the state of southern Darfour. On 28 May, a joint committee co-chaired by Gen Ibrahim Mohamed Atib, Counsellor in Security Affairs to Sudan's President Umar al Bashir, and Agba Otikpo Mezode, CAR Foreign Affairs Minister, was established to investigate the situation and normalise relations between the two countries. After meeting several times in Bangui and visiting the border region in June, the committee made recommendations aimed at settling the repeated hostilities. These included the opening of a Sudanese consulate in Birao, 200 km from the border, mandated with monitoring events in the region. "People from each side kill and escape, that is why we will open a general consulate in Birao to control the border," said Khamis-Hagar, who added that Sudanese authorities were seeking candidates who know both the region and its tribes well enough to serve as consul general in Birao. [See earlier IRIN story, "Joint inquiry to be made with Sudan over border clashes"]