Chadian President Idriss Deby announced on Friday that his
country had decided to cut off diplomatic ties with neighboring
Sudan, and meanwhile threatened to expel Sudanese refugees from the
Chadian territory if no solution were found in solving the Darfur
crisis by the end of June.
According to reports reaching here, Deby accused Khartoum of
providing support to Chad's armed rebel groups, which were
launching offensives around the capital N'Djamena.
"We have taken the decision to break our diplomatic relations
with Sudan today and to proceed to close our frontiers," he told a
rally in N'Djamena.
All Sudanese diplomats must leave Chad immediately, he said.
Deby also threatened to expel about 200,000 Sudanese refugees,
who had been displaced by the armed conflict in Sudan's west region
of Darfur and were taking refuge in the Chadian territory.
"If after June, we can't guarantee the security of the refugees,
then it is up to the international community to find another
country to shelter these refugees," he said.
Deby expressed dissatisfaction with the international community,
which he said "has been totally deaf and dumb on the situation
between Sudan and Chad."
On Thursday, Sudan denied any involvement in the fighting near
N' Djamena between Chadian government troops and rebels attempting
to overthrow Deby.
"Sudan has nothing to do with the incidents in Chad and
considers them as an internal affair," Sudanese Minister of Foreign
Affairs Lam Akol told reporters.
Security situation in Chad is deteriorating ahead of the
presidential elections scheduled for next month.
Rebels marching toward N'Djamena battled with government forces
on Thursday, leaving hundreds of people dead, reports said.
But Deby said he had fought off the rebels' attempt to overthrow
him and the situation in the capital city was still under his
control.
(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2006)
