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SUDAN CALLS FOR JOINT PATROLS WITH CHAD TO END CONFLICT December 25, 2005
Apunyu Bonny
(SomaliNet) Following Chad’s Friday accusation of Sudan for supporting Chadian rebels who launched a failed attack on the border town of Adre on Monday, Sudan on Saturday 24th retaliated saying it was surprised by Chadian accusations.
"We are very surprised by this," said Sudan's state minister of foreign affairs al-Samani Wasiylah. "All the channels of communications are open between our two countries. We don't know why they are moving out of the bilateral relations to make these ... threatening statements."
Chad's rebel Rally for Democracy and Liberty (RDL) has said it wants to remove President Idriss Deby from power and has warned it will launch further attacks on Chad. Chadian government forces say they have driven RDL forces from Adre into Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
"We will not let anyone use Sudanese soil to launch attacks against a neighbouring country," Samani told Reuters.
He declined to say whether Sudan would allow Chadian armed forces to cross the border into Sudan to attack the rebels, who are believed to have bases in Darfur.
"We have to first take steps to avoid this. We want to have joint border patrols but they are refusing this," he added.
Chad and Sudan carried out joint patrols in the early stages of a revolt by Sudanese rebels in Darfur, who took up arms in early 2003. Tens of thousands have been killed and more than 2 million forced into miserable camps in the Darfur conflict.
Sudan has urged its western neighbour to form joint border patrols with Sudan to stop tensions escalating further.