Chad apologizes for recent border clash inside Sudan

Chad apologized on Saturday for a border clash erupted inside Sudan earlier this week, which killed 17 Sudanese soldiers and wounded 40 others, Sudanese official said.

Abdel-Rahman Mukhtarm, the director of the African department in the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters that Chadian President Idriss Deby made the apology in a letter to Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir.

Mukhtarm said that the letter was conveyed by Chadian minister of foreign affairs Ahmad Allam-mi, who arrived in Khartoum on Saturday afternoon as the envoy of the Chadian president.

"The letter contains an apology from the Chadian president for what had happened and his desire to open a new page in the progress of the relations between the two countries," the Sudanese official disclosed.

He said the Sudanese president showed understanding to the clarifications made by the Chadian envoy and affirmed his keenness to work together with President Deby to surpass the differences.

Mukhtarm said the envoy also conveyed the desire of President Deby to visit Sudan, adding that the visit would be set through the diplomatic channels.

Allam-mi also affirmed the regret held by his president after his meeting with the Sudanese president, saying a joint committee based on the Tripoli accord, a deal signed by both presidents in the Libyan capital last February to stop repeated border clashes, was investigating the recent incident.

He blamed the latest border clash on attacks against the Chadian armed forces by rebel militants, hoping that the Sudanese government would agree to sign an agreement allowing the Chadian forces to pursue the rebels into the Sudanese territories.

The visit of the Chadian envoy comes following a shuttle visit by Abdel Salem Triki, the special envoy of Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi, who held mediation talks with both Sudan and Chad.

Meanwhile, South African President Thabo Mbeki also made a two- day visit in Sudan this week, during which al-Bashir asked South Africa to offer mediation help between his country and Chad.

Source: Xinhua