Sudanese Defence Minister meets Chadian President Deby - Security Council consults on cutting MINURCAT - Irish troops return home

On Saturday (8 May) Sudan's Federal Minister of Defence, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein, met with the Chadian President Idriss Déby, in N'Djamena, Chad. The two discussed the deployment process of the joint monitoring forces. The deployment is part of the security agreement reached between Khartoum and N'djamena, in an attempt to flush out opposition activities in both countries.

On Saturday (8 May) the Security Council held closed consultations on cuts to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Chad (MINURCAT) after the Chadian government's call for the withdrawal of the military component, despite warnings that this could impair delivery of humanitarian aid to some 430,000 people.

On Monday (10 May) the first group of Irish troops is due to arrive home from Chad. Irish Minister for Defence Tony Killeen extended his congratulations to the returning contingent and to all those involved in the MINURCAT mission. The Defence Forces have been involved in Chad since February 2008.

Further details below.

SAF deploys border troops along Chad amid allegations of attack on JEM strongholds
From Radio Miraya - Sunday, 09 May 2010 20:37:

As the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) tightened border security with Chad in an effort to promote peaceful border co-existence, allegations of SAF attacks on JEM forces continue to surface. Director of the SAF's office, Lieutenant Sawarmi Khalid Saed told Radio Miraya that the deployment is part of the security agreement reached between Khartoum and N'djamena, in an attempt to flush out opposition activities in both countries.

He pointed out that the military monitors any covert rebel activities whether inside or outside cities, citing two joint military base camps in Adri and Aljineena townships where the military monitors any covert rebel activities. Sawarmi added that ground arrangements are also progressing well.

On Saturday, Sudan's Federal Minister of Defense, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein, met with the Chadian President Idris Debby, in N'Djamena on Saturday. The two discussed the deployment process of the joint monitoring forces.

Leitenant Sawarmi also denied any clashes with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). JEM has accused the SAF of attacking their territories.

Speaking to Radio Miraya, Sawarmi admitted that some JEM forces have penetrated some areas of Kordofan, but downplayed their effect on the civilians.

He said citizens are used to seeing JEM troops passing through townships and have not been exposed to any clashes with the SAF. Sawarmi added that JEM merely intimidates and terrify villagers by shooting randomly.

Earlier JEM confirmed that fighting is on-going between JEM forces and the SAF in Kordofan, North and South Darfur. In a statement to Radio Miraya, JEM's speaker at the Legislative Assembly, Althahir AlFaki, accused the SAF of using Antinov war planes to attack areas Kilbas, Feferida, Fireaa, Hileylat and JEM's strongholds in northern Kordofan State, saying that he had just received the information of field commanders there.

AlFaki disclosed that JEM has administrative patrols, active in Dar-Amiss area in Kordofan State.

He also added that the framework agreement signed did not specify the locations where JEM deploys troops.

Click and listen to SAF's Lieutenant Sawarmi Khalid Saed

Click and listen to JEM's Legislative Assembly speaker, Althahir Al Faki

Minister of Defense meets Chadian President
From Miraya Radio - Sunday, 09 May 2010 14:44:

The Federal Minister of Defense, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein, met with the Chadian President Idriss Déby, in N'Djamena yesterday. They discussed the deployment process of the joint monitoring forces at the borders. Hussein also delivered to Déby an invitation from President-elect Omar Al Bashir to attend his swearing-in ceremony in Sudan follwing his election last month.

Security Council consults on cutting UN military force in Chad
From (UN News) Spero News - Saturday, 08 May 2010:

The Security Council today held closed consultations on cuts to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Chad after the Government"s call for the withdrawal of the military component, despite warnings that this could impair delivery of humanitarian aid to some 430,000 people.

"We are extremely worried about what the potential impact will be on the civilians whom we"re trying to help in eastern Chad," Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes told a news conference, citing 250,000 or more refugees from Sudan"s war-torn Darfur region and 180,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad (MINURCAT) "has been helpful for us" in providing security and extra logistical capacity including medical evacuations, he said.

"That"s why we"ve made clear ourselves, publicly and privately, to the Government of Chad and the Security Council that our preference would be that MINURCAT should stay for a further period until alternative arrangements are made because the consequences for the protection of civilians but also for humanitarians themselves could be very significant," he added.

Last month UN and Chadian officials agreed on a major initial reduction after the Government called for the withdrawal of the military component of MINURCAT, which was set up over two years ago to ensure the security of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Darfur, IDPs and humanitarian workers in both Chad and the CAR, saying the force had served its purpose.

In a report to the Council earlier this week Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposed that the military component be reduced from its current 3,300 troops " out of an authorized strength of 4,900 " to 1,400 troops and 500 support elements. The current mandate expires on 15 May.

With new agreements on border security between Chad and Sudan, and with MINURCAT not strong enough to provide complete security in eastern Chad, the Government said it felt it was better for Chadian forces to take over and for the mandate to be adjusted.

"Now we will have to deal with the situation as we find it if MINURCAT has to draw down in the course of this year, which looks like the most likely outcome of all this, we will have to adapt to that and do the best we can," Mr. Holmes said. "But it may have an impact on our ability to help people and on the security problems for the people themselves."

In his report Mr. Ban said MINURCAT would ensure the first drawdown of 1,400 troops by 15 July, with the remaining 1,900 beginning their withdrawal on 15 October. He also proposed that as of 16 May, the current mandate for the protection of civilians would cease, with such security tasks to be carried out by Chadian police forces, primarily the UN-trained D"chement int""e s"rit"DIS).

Meanwhile, the MINURCAT police component would continue to train, mentor and support the efforts of the Government to enable the DIS to become self-sustainable.

Source: UN News

First Irish troops to return from Chad on Monday
From BreakingNews.ie - Sunday, 09 May 2010:

The first group of Irish troops is due to arrive home from Chad on Monday, according to the Defence Forces.

The group, consisting of 212 personnel, will arrive into Dublin Airport at 3.35pm.

Minister for Defence Tony Killeen extended his congratulations to the returning contingent and to all those involved in the MINURCAT mission.

"This was probably the most difficult mission ever undertaken by the Defence Forces and the manner in which it was deployed and operated is testament to effectiveness of the modernisation process implemented by the Defence Forces over the past number of years," he said.

"I would like to thank all members of the Defence Forces who have served in Chad for their dedication, professionalism and hard work in contributing to a safe and secure environment for refugees and displaced persons.

"The Government remains deeply committed to international peacekeeping and, over the coming months, we will be looking at possible options for future deployments."

The Defence Forces have been involved in Chad since February 2008.

Chad's Deby wants MINURCAT to leave

Chadian president Deby says Chad can do without MINURCAT because Chad and Sudan are setting up their own force to secure the 500-kilometer border.

Phillipe Conraud, humanitarian coordinator for West Africa for the aid group Oxfam, says the absence of MINURCAT could affect the distribution of food to people in more dangerous areas along the border with Sudan. But in some of the regions most at risk for food shortages, he says there are no MINURCAT forces to begin with.

Full story from VOA, 23 March 2010: Chad Seeks Withdrawal of UN Peacekeepers Protecting Food Distribution

UFR threatens war to overthow Chad's government - UN mission in Chad needs boosting

RFC/UFR's Chadian leader Timan Erdimi sits in Darfur, W. Sudan plotting war against his Uncle, Chadian President Idriss Deby.

Chadian rebels are using El Geneina in Darfur as their back-base, as they await an opportune moment to launch another strike on Ndjamena, about 1,000 kilometres away.

"Almost 95%" of Chadian rebels are in Sudan, says General Balla Keita who heads the joint UN-African peacekeeping force Unamid in West Darfur.

Chadian rebel chief of Rally of Forces for Change (RFC), Timan Erdim, was elected in January to head the Union of Forces of the Resistance (UFR) - an alliance of Chad's main eight rebel groups who merged into one movement with a single political and military command. Timan Erdimi is a nephew of Chadian President Idriss Deby and his former chief of staff until 1996.

"When everything is ready we will launch the war," Erdimi says, near El Geneina in Darfur, W. Sudan.

Erdimi's plans, once he topples Deby's regime, "is not democracy," he says. His priority is to develop government institutions.

Erdimi insists that his men have no links to the Sudanese army and do not need Khartoum's blessings to attack Ndjamena.

"We are not back-up troops for the Sudanese army," he says.

On Tuesday Chadian rebels claimed they had killed about 15 soldiers in a battle near Birak in east Chad over the weekend, but a government official denied there had been any such clash.

The UN mission in Chad and the Central African Republic needs urgent reinforcement because it lacks staff and equipment as it seeks to protect civilians, a senior UN official said today (Friday, 24 April 2009).

Source: see the following reports.



Photo: Timan Erdimi leader de l’UFR: lire son interview accordée en arabe (Source: www.tribunecoum.com février 19, 2009 and Slide Show)

AFP report April 24, 2009 via news24.com (SA):
Rebels ready to overthrow Deby

Sudan - Chadian rebel chief Timan Erdimi sits in the shade of a mango tree near a dried-up wadi in western Sudan, charting out a strategy to topple the government in neighbouring Chad.

"When everything is ready we will launch the war," Erdimi says, near El Geneina, a wild and lawless territory in Darfur close to the border with Chad populated by UN peacekeepers, Sudanese army troops and local militias.

Sitting cross-legged, coiffed in a turban and sporting a salt-and-pepper goatee, Erdimi would look like a Chinese wise man were it not for the military fatigues he dons and the armed fighters who surround him.

He was elected in January to head the Union of Forces of the Resistance (UFR) - an alliance of Chad's main eight rebel groups who merged into one movement with a single political and military command.

The alliance came into being months after rebel groups launched an offensive on the Chadian capital Ndjamena in February 2008 that almost toppled the regime of President Idriss Deby.

But the rebellion was repulsed as it neared the gates of the presidential palace with the help of France, as cracks appeared in the ranks of the rebels.

"There never has been a spirit of unity like today," says Erdimi, a nephew of Deby and his former chief of staff until 1996.

Reached an agreement

"Things are ready on the political and military fronts," he adds, dismissing rumours that divisions are already threatening the very existence of his movement.

Around 100 fighters, machine guns slung across their shoulders, surround Erdimi, who is in his mid-50s. Some are slouched in four-wheel-drive vehicles which bristle with weapons, including rockets.

The Chadian rebels are using El Geneina in the strife-riddled border region of Darfur as their back-base, as they await an opportune moment to launch another strike on Ndjamena, about 1 000 kilometres away.

"Almost 95%" of Chadian rebels are in Sudan, says General Balla Keita who heads the joint UN-African peacekeeping force Unamid in West Darfur.

Erdimi acknowledges that political divisions among the rebellion last year forced his fighters to leave Ndjamena although they had "won the war" but he stresses that the tide has now turned and the time for attack is nearing.

The fighters, he says, were "very unhappy to have left Ndjamena last year. They had won the war but the politicians (within the rebellion) were divided.

"Now the politicians have reached an agreement and they are in a hurry," to launch an offensive, he said.

But the rainy season that spreads from mid-May to the end of September means military operations could be slowed as the dried-up wadis turn into rivers.

Develop government institutions

Western observers believe that the Chadian army has mobilised on the other side of the border and is ready to confront the rebels.

"The Chadian army has been reinforced over the past year," one said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But Erdimi is confident in the strength of his men.

The rebellion "has more (fighters) than Deby and they are much more motivated that Deby's men," he says.

Erdimi's plans, once he topples Deby's regime, "is not democracy," he says. His priority is to develop government institutions.

On Tuesday Chadian rebels claimed they had killed about 15 soldiers in a battle near Birak in east Chad over the weekend, but a government official denied there had been any such clash.

UFR spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah said in Ndjamena that they had killed about 15 government soldiers in the clashes and destroyed two vehicles with rocket-propelled grenades.

Troubled neighbours Chad and Sudan restored full diplomatic relations in November after a six month hiatus caused by mutual accusations of supporting armed rebels groups operating in and around Sudan's border region of Darfur.

But Erdimi insists that his men have no links to the Sudanese army and do not need Khartoum's blessings to attack Ndjamena.

"We are not back-up troops for the Sudanese army," he says.

- - -

BBC News report 06 February, 2008:
France watches Chad-Sudan border

French military aircraft have been patrolling the Chad-Sudan border to ensure there has been no interference in the fighting around N'Djamena.

France's defence minister said it wanted to monitor "any self-styled foreign intervention" in the fighting between Chad's government and rebels.

The government has accused Sudan of giving the rebel groups rear bases in Darfur, a charge which Khartoum denies.

Thousands have fled N'Djamena since the rebels launched an assault on Saturday.

Up to 20,000 people have crossed the river border with Cameroon in the past four days and arrived in the town of Kousseri, placing heavy strain on essential supplies and accommodation, the UN refugee agency has said.

More than 3,000 other refugees have fled to Nigeria.

Earlier, the leader of the main UFDD rebel group said it was prepared to have a ceasefire in return for the promise of negotiations with the government, but the government dismissed the offer, saying it had already beaten the rebels.

A mediation mission from Libya and Congo-Brazzaville, appointed by the African Union with a brief to meet both sides, is due to arrive soon in the Chadian capital.

Reconnaissance

Speaking about the role of his country's 1,400 troops based in Chad, French Defence Minister Herve Morin stressed that the UN declaration on Monday calling on all countries to support the government had not changed the terms of engagement.

"What it does do is give international community support to the actions of France," he told Radio France Internationale. "It is also support for [President] Idriss Deby."

French diplomatic tight-rope

"It is international community support for the integrity of Chad and support for the actions of France, actions that we've been carrying out for several days."

Mr Morin said that France did have a military agreement with Chad which provides for logistical, medical and training support, but "in no way is it a defence agreement... that would oblige France to intervene to protect the sovereignty of the country involved".

The French military could intervene if it was authorised to do so by a UN resolution, he added.

However, Mr Morin admitted that French fighter jets and reconnaissance planes had been flying over the border with Sudan over the past 36 hours in line with a request from President Nicolas Sarkozy to ensure there are no foreign incursions.

"It enables us to monitor and verify any self-styled foreign interventions and to date we've seen nothing," he said.

"What is certain is that these rebel forces were over by the Sudanese border," he added. "What we might well find out in the days ahead is just what the involvement of the Sudanese actually is."

The violence in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and the cross-border fighting between Chad and Sudan has in recent years sent at least 400,000 people fleeing to refugee camps in eastern Chad.

A French-dominated European Union peacekeeping force had been due to start deploying to eastern Chad last week to give the refugees and aid workers there a measure of protection, but the latest rebel offensive began at the same time.

BBC world affairs correspondent Mark Doyle says one theory is that Sudan encouraged the rebels to attack in order to stop the EU opening a window on Khartoum's activities in Darfur, where it has been accused of genocide.

Ceasefire 'offer'

Mr Morin's comments came as the leader of the largest rebel group, the United Force for Democracy and Development, told the BBC that it was prepared to agree to a ceasefire in return for the promise of talks with the government.

Mahamat Nouri said the ceasefire offer had been made by the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, and the government of Burkina Faso.

But the Chadian Prime Minister, Nouradine Delwa Kassire Coumakoye, was dismissive of the offer.

"Why a ceasefire?" he told French TV station France 24.

"They don't exist any more. With whom would we sign a ceasefire?... We've got them under control."

The lull in the fighting around N'Djamena following the tripartite rebel alliance's recent withdrawal has prompted tens of thousands of Chadians to flee the country.

THE REBEL COALITION
Unified Military Command includes:
Union of Forces for Democracy (UFDD) led by Mahamat Nouri
Rally of Forces for Change (RFC) led by Timane Erdimi
UFDD-Fundamental led by Abdelwahid Aboud Mackaye

On Tuesday, "frightened people were still crossing in a continuous flow" from Chad into neighbouring Cameroon, said the UN's refugee agency in a news release.

Thousands have deluged Kousseri in Cameroon, the UNHCR said. While some have found refuge with relatives, in schools or hotels, it said, between 6,000 and 7,000 were staying out in the open at a transit centre near the bridge.

The UNHCR said it planned to move these people to an old campsite some 30km away which could hold up to 100,000 people and was equipped with wells.

- - -

BBC News report 02 December 2007:
RFC rebels 'in new Chad clash'

Photo: The Rally of Forces for Change (RFC) is led by Timan Erdimi (AFP/BBC)

Government troops in Chad have clashed with rebels from the Rally of Forces for Change (RFC), reports say.

The RFC said its positions had been bombed by Chadian helicopters on Saturday, raising fears that a major ground battle could soon take place.

The RFC signed a peace deal with the government in October, as had another rebel group, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD).

The UFDD has already clashed with government troops further south.

Speaking to foreign diplomats on Saturday, Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmat Allami said RFC rebel forces led by Timan Erdimi had clashed with government forces around Kalait, some 210km (130 miles) north of Abeche.

A spokesman for the RFC, Id Moura Maide, told the AFP news agency that the fighting had begun when Chadian military helicopters attacked one of the group's bases in the area.

President Idriss Deby, who the rebels are trying to overthrow, is on the ground in eastern Chad commanding his troops.

The clashes follow days of fierce fighting east of Abeche between Chad's army and the UFDD, during which the government said several hundred rebels had died.

The UFDD said it had broken the ceasefire because the government failed to honour the peace agreement brokered by Libya in March.

Under the deal, the government and four Chadian rebel groups agreed to an immediate ceasefire, an amnesty for civil and military personnel and the release of all prisoners. The rebels were also granted the right to form political parties and to join the military and security forces.

But the BBC's Stephanie Hancock in Ndjamena says that after some of the heaviest fighting seen in the country in several years, the ceasefire is now effectively dead in the water.

On Friday, the UFDD also said it had declared war against the French-led 3,500-strong European Union peacekeeping force which is due to be deployed in Chad in January to protect refugees from Sudan's Darfur region.

The rebels accused French military planes of flying over their positions and passing intelligence to the government during last week's fighting. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has insisted the declaration would not jeopardise the EU mission.

The latest fighting began as President Deby sacked his defence minister, Mahamat Nour.

A former leader of the United Front for Change (Fuc) rebel coalition, Mr Nour was appointed defence minister in March after agreeing to disarm his fighters and arrange for them to be assimilated into the Chadian army.

However, correspondents say this never really happened and last week the authorities said they suspected the fighters had instead taken up arms against the government again.

Officials say Mr Nour has taken refuge in the Libyan embassy in the Chad's capital, Ndjamena.

- - -

AFP report 24 April 2009:
UN mission in Chad needs boosting

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN mission in Chad and the Central African Republic needs urgent reinforcement because it lacks staff and equipment as it seeks to protect civilians, a senior UN official said Friday.

The mission, known as MINURCAT, took over from a European force in mid-March amid regional tensions marked by deteriorating ties between neighboring Sudan and the international community.

So far some 2,425 soldiers have arrived out of a total force of 5,200, assistant head for UN peacekeeping operations Edmond Mulet told the UN Security Council.

"There is now an urgent need to strengthen MINURCAT up to its authorized strength and to equip it so that it is in a position to meet the challenges facing it," said Mulet.

"We will only reach the ceiling of 5,200 troops if member states provide the mission with military helicopters and their logistic support."

Mulet said that moves to reinforce the mission were being hampered by a delay in the arrivals of contingents promised by Ghana and Nepal.

And he voiced concerns that by the start of the rainy season in June probably only about 3,000 troops would be in place, and some 4,700 by the end of the year.

Total strength would probably only be reached if member states supplied helicopters to support the deployments, Mulet added.

"I cannot sufficiently stress the risk posed by the lack of military helicopters as far as the operational effectiveness of the force is concerned," he said.

MINURCAT's main mission is to protect and aid some 450,000 refugees from the conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, who have flowed over the border into Chad and the Central African Republic.

Reuters exclusive interview: Mahamat Nour the Chad rebel leader demands change, by force if needed

[Sudan Watch Editor's Note: This entry has been updated on 05 Dec 2010 as the original hyperlinks, published here in 2006, have become broken due to Reuters archiving of the report on another page]

HERE below is a copy of an exclusive interview (by Opheera McDoom for Reuters, reporting from the Sudan-Chad border Feb 12) with 35 year old Mahamat Nour, the leader of the insurgents trying to topple the Chadian president.

In this, his first interview with a Western journalist, he said well-armed defectors are flocking to his remote camps on the Sudanese border and are eager to take power and his forces are now "eight times stronger" than when they attacked the Chad border town Adre in December, a raid he describes as a test run. Copy in full:

EXCLUSIVE-Chad rebel leader demands change, by force if needed
12 Feb 2006 11:55:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Opheera McDoom

SUDAN-CHAD BORDER, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Confident and relaxed, the leader of the insurgents trying to topple the Chadian president says well-armed defectors are flocking to his remote camps on the Sudanese border and are eager to take power.

In his first interview with a Western journalist, Mahamat Nour said his forces are now "eight times stronger" than when they attacked the Chad border town of Adre in December, a raid he describes as a test run.

A stocky man with a commanding presence and an organised mind, Nour, 35, comes from a family that has played a key role in making and breaking Chad's leaders over the past two decades.

His father, the head of a powerful east Chadian tribe, helped launch both the coup that brought President Idriss Deby to power in 1990 and that of his predecessor Hissene Habre.

Many of the area's tribes span the long and porous border, making it almost impossible to differentiate nationalities.

Nour himself is fluent in Arabic, French and his native tribal language Tama, speaking each with a slight stutter.

His desert bases are well defended. A jolting three-hour drive on dirt tracks through Sudan's Darfur region brings the visitor to a narrow opening between two hills, where vehicles full of armed men appear from nowhere and surround the car.

From the French spoken by the men in new green uniforms, it is clear this is one of the insurgents' camps.

Both Deby and Nour know this rocky terrain well from the days when coups were planned here. Sudan's western Darfur region is now in the throes of its own civil war.

Nour left Deby's government in 1994, disillusioned with what he calls Deby's "autocratic and corrupt ways." Since then he has remained in opposition, spending time in Khartoum and other African capitals.

FINAL CHANCE

Nour has said he has offered Deby a final chance to accept a national forum to discuss democratic change or face removal by force.

"No one wants a war, but if that's the only way, we will go to Chad," he said.

His ambitions have fuelled tension between Sudan and Chad and prompted Deby to declare a "state of belligerence" with Sudan, which he has accused of supporting Nour.

Last week the two states' presidents agreed at a mini-summit in Tripoli to ban insurgents from setting up bases in each country, but the border is remote and largely unsupervised.

Nour said December's failed attack on Adre was a test run and, with deserters arriving every day including high-level government officials, he now had thousands of troops.

Truckloads of young men and supplies, including brand new weapons, were arriving every day at the well-secured camp. Heavy weapons including rocket and mortar launchers were out of sight just beyond the deceptively simple entry checkpoint of a branch and two stones. There appeared to be no shortage of funds.

Chadian Colonel Ahmed Youssef Bishara, one of a group of senior officers who deserted recently and came to the rebel camp, said he was surprised at the strength of Nour's forces.

"There's not been anything as big as this in all my experience," he said. "Here we have many heavy weapons and many troops -- much more than Deby had."

JOIN NOUR'S RANKS

Bishara said he had some 1,800 troops in southern Chad near the border and was ready to join Nour's ranks to oust Deby.
"Deby has taken the money from the Chadian people -- now we want freedom," said Bishara, a tall, sinewy figure wearing dark glasses and green army uniform.

"We have people in the high ranks with us. When Deby is sleeping we know what he just ate for dinner," he said with a grin.
Colonel Bishara Moussa Farid, who took part in peacekeeping operations in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has also turned on Deby.

"He accused me of attempting a coup and imprisoned me for six months," said Farid, 52, a vetern who took part in the coups which installed both Deby and his predecessor Hissene Habre in power in N'Djamena.

"These troops here are much better off than the previous resistances," he said. "We didn't have equipment and heavy weapons as we do now," he added.

Some members of the opposition groups that signed an agreement in December to form the United Front for Democratic Change said there were doubts over whether Nour was strong enough to unite them.

"Everywhere in the world there are problems like this," was Nour's reply. "But I can say that as of today, it's all going well."
Nour and his troops were confident of success. "We will invite you to N'Djamena when we arrive," he said, laughing with his officers.

- - -

Further reading

Feb 10, 2006 report at Sudan Tribune says the chairman of one of the SLM two factions, Abdelwahid Mohamed al-Nour his faction would sign a peace agreement on its own without involving the JEM and "Menni Minawi's group".

Jan 28, 2006 Sudan accuses Chad of shelling Arm Yakui, West Darfur - NMRD Darfur rebels attack Sudan army base in Arm Yakui.

Jan 13, 2006 Sudan says UN peace force in Darfur unwelcome - See comment from Sudan Watch reader: "The commander in charge of the massacres in Darfur is called MAHAMAT NOUR ABDELKRIM: http://genocidedarfour.blogspot.com/
The "captain" Mahamat Nour, ex-officer of the chadian army, has commanded the Jandjawids with the sudanese logistic. He has been the principal planner of the genocide in Darfur. Thanks to his chadian nationality, he was used as an alibi by the Sudanese government."

Dec 21, 2005 Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur.