Ethiopian Review

KHARTOUM – Sudan said on Monday it had referred Chad to the UN Security Council, accusing its neighbour of launching an air raid inside Sudanese territory.

Sudan’s army said two Chadian planes attacked a region inside the west Darfur district on Thursday — the fourth raid Khartoum says N’Djamena has carried out in Sudan in two months.

Chad has so far not responded to the accusation, but has in the past insisted it has the right to strike Chadian rebels it says are based inside Sudan.

Relations between the two countries have become entangled in Sudan’s festering Darfur conflict and each country has accused the other of supporting insurgents inside its borders.

In May, Sudan accused Chad of launching three bombing raids on its territory, while Chad accused Sudan of sending rebel forces over its border.

“We brought (the air attack) to the attention of the Security Council. It is now up to the Security Council to react,” Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadig told Reuters on Monday.

“We have confirmed the attack took place. The only other thing we are sure of is the Chad is not interested in a settlement. They have declined all reconciliation attempts, whether from us or other countries, including Libya and Qatar.”

Al-Sadig said there had been no further attacks since the reported raid close to the settlement of Um Dukhn on Thursday. “According to military information everything is quiet in the area. There has been no escalation of events.”

He denied Chadian rebels were inside Sudan, saying the Chad air force might have acted on “bad intelligence”.

- Reuters