Chad’s President Deby starts official visit to Sudan

The President of Chad arrived at Khartoum on Wednesday, for a two-day visit to Sudan.

President Idris Deby, who was welcomed by President Omar Al Bashir and a number of Sudanese Ministers and other officials at Khartoum airport, started talks with the authorities on Wednesday evening.

Sudanese officials announced that the talks focus on bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern regarding the latest developments in Libya and the Central African Republic, Sudan's military offensive on rebel strongholds in Darfur, and the situation of the Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad.

‘Close relations’

The Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Minni Minawi, (SLM-MM), referred to the close relations between Sudan and Chad in a press statement on Monday, saying that the director of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), Mohamed Atta, met with former SLM-MM Chief of Staff, Mohamedein Ismail Bashar, in the Chadian capital of N’Djamena in the first week of January.

According to the statement, the meeting that was “directly coordinated” by a representative of the Chadian government, Gen. Mohamed Tani Bashar, discussed details of the Sudanese government plans to eliminate the insurgency in Darfur during the current ‘dry season’ in particular the SLM-MM.

“One of the first steps consisted of the targeting of Gen. Mohamed Hary Cherdago, SLM-MM Operations Commander. He was killed, together with a number of his companions, during a broad Sudanese intelligence operation, one week after the N'Djamena meeting,” the statement reads.