Sudan, Chad sign a peace accord in Tripoli

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Chad and Sudan on Wednesday evening in Tripoli signed a peace agreement under which they promised to immediately expel armed groups hostile to their respective governments.
President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir of Sudan and his Chadian counterpart Idriss Déby also signed the "Tripoli Declaration" adopted the same day at the end of a mini-African summit aimed at defusing the existing tension between their two countries.

The Libyan leader Moammar Kadhafi, who convened the meeting, the current chairman of the African Union (AU), President Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo, Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso, the chairman of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) and the President of the Central African Republic, François Bozizé, also signed the "Tripoli Declaration".

It hailed the availability to dialogue shown during this mini-summit by presidents Déby and Al-Bashir.

Leaders at the mini-summit urged Chad and Sudan to stop interfering in each other's internal affairs and refrain from supporting to armed groups operating in the two countries.

They also called on authorities in the two countries to immediately cease hostile media campaigns so as to restore peace and mutual confidence between them.

The mini-summit established a ministerial follow-up committee that will hold periodical meetings to assess the situation and support the two countries in the search for a peaceful and negotiated settlement to the different causes of their dispute.

The Libya-led committee, composed of Sudan, Chad, Congo, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic and of the CEN-SAD general secretariat, will co-ordinate its activities with the AU Peace and Security Council.

Meanwhile, the mini-summit decided to send an information gathering mission on the ground and deploy and a force to maintain peace and security along the common border between Chad and Sudan.

Delegates to the mini-summit thanked the initiators of the summit and expressed their deep gratitude to the Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadhafi. They also thanked him for his abnegation and commitment towards peace, security, stability and development in Africa.