Both sides express readiness to talk as tensions linger

Sudan joined Chad on Tuesday in offering to open talks to defuse mounting tension along their joint border, but the two sides still appeared far apart. At the weekend, Chad said it was ready to talk to Sudan but only if Khartoum agreed to a set of conditions, including the disarmament of Chadian rebels N’djamena claims are operating on the Sudanese side of the border. But Sudan’s Foreign Minister Lam Akol on Tuesday denied the presence of Chadian rebels in his country in an interview on Radio France Internationale. “We don’t have Chadian rebels in Sudan to disarm,” Akol said. “We have been keen to see that there [are] no armed dissidents…that are roaming in Sudan.” Chad President Idriss Deby has been facing dissension within the armed forces, with some troops deserting to join rebel forces in eastern Chad near Sudan. The government has accused Khartoum of backing the rebels and of joining in attacks. Rejecting such claims, Akol said Khartoum policy was that “any rebel that comes to our side must be disarmed and then handed over to the UNHCR [UN refugee agency].” Sudan favoured dialogue with Chad to overcome the tension, he said. “We want to sit with them anytime. There is no other way except to solve the problem peacefully.” With an African Union summit in Khartoum less than two weeks away, African leaders have been working to neutralise lingering hostility. After a meeting at the weekend in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, with Muammar Gaddafi, African Union Commission head Alpha Konare and other regional leaders, Deby set four conditions for peace talks. He said the Sudanese government must: disarm Chadian deserters and other armed groups in Sudan, hand deserters over to UNHCR, end Sudanese militia incursions into Chad and compensate victims of cross-border attacks by Sudanese militia. Chad’s communication minister Moussa Hourmadji Doumgor told reporters that once the conditions are filled the Chadian government would have no objection to resuming direct contact with the Sudanese government to try to mend relations. In its most recent charge of cross-border raids, Chad said on Friday that Sudanese militia attacked three Chadian villages near the border town of Adre the day before, killing nine civilians and gravely injuring three. The alleged attacks demonstrate "the intention of the Sudanese government to continue its aggression against Chad,” the government said. Akol said his government was ready to begin joint border patrols with Chad to control the movement of rebels. As for compensating victims or their families, he said Sudan does not know of the attacks Chad cited. “We are not aware of that. We need to sit down and discuss who was killed and who killed them.” Despite the trouble in eastern Chad, humanitarian workers assisting about 200,000 Sudanese refugees in the area say that aside from some restrictions on movement around Adre, for now they are able to carry out operations as normal.