Sudan accuses France of being behind the recent Chadian attacks inside Sudan’s territory

The Minister of Information in GONU, Dr. Rabie Abdulaati told Sudan Radio Service that ”The Chadian government is being supported by certain countries, especially France. Chad is doing these things through France. There are foreign forces who are behind these accusations for the sake of realizing their agendas. I swear that the Chadian regime is just machinery used by the French government to do what ever it wants.”

From Sudan Radio Service Thursday, 21 May 2009 (N’Djamena):

The Chadian government says that their threat to conduct military operations inside Sudan’s territory come after confirmed reports that the Chadian anti-government groups backed by Sudan are preparing for another attack.

The Chadian Minister of Information, Mohamed Hussein, spoke to Sudan Radio Service on Thursday from N’Djamena.

[Mohamed Hussein]: ”The people who attacked Chad on 4th May, who are they and where did they came from? They are coming from Sudan, we are not just talking nonsense, they are present (the rebels) in Sudan and it is confirmed. Our first attack inside Sudan territory was successful. When our army returned, we informed the international community that our army came back to Chadian territory. On Sunday, our intelligence service intercepted a phone call between the rebels and the Sudanese army. They were saying that they got commands from the Sudanese authorities to regroup in eastern al-Geneina. According to this information, the Chadian Defense Minister threatened that if Sudan continues sending the rebels to attack Chad, we will not wait until they reach Chad, we will cross the border and scatter them inside Sudan, as Sudan is the one who has started first, not us.”

However the Government of National Unity has dismissed the allegations by Chadian officials, threatening to “crush” the Chadian army if they cross their border.

The advisor to the Minister of Information in GONU, Dr. Rabie Abdulaati, spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum.

[Rabie Abdulaati]: ”First of all, these are lies and baseless accusations, and have nothing to do with the reality. Sudan has never targeted Chad either through the opposition or by trespassing on Chadian territory. Sudan is capable of crushing the Chadian army and eliminating it. Otherwise Sudan wouldn’t have signed the Doha, Dakar and Libya declarations. Sudan see that there is no any comparison between it’s army and Chadian army, Chad is a very small country, so what the Chadian Minster of Information has said is baseless, Sudan does not need to conspire through phone calls, Chad knows it’s capacity and can't face Sudan in any case.”

Abdulaati went on to accuse France of being behind the recent Chadian attacks inside Sudan’s territory.

[Rabie Abdulaati]: ”The Chadian government is being supported by certain countries, especially France. Chad is doing these things through France. There are foreign forces who are behind these accusations for the sake of realizing their agendas. I swear that the Chadian regime is just machinery used by the French government to do what ever it wants.”

Since 2005, Chad and Sudan have often accused each other of supporting anti-government groups in their respective countries.