Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on Tuesday raised doubts that his Chadian counterpart Idriss Debby would adhere to the latest peace deal due to be signed by the neighboring countries. Several such deals have been brokered between the African countries who accuse each other of supporting rebels across the border but none has been implemented.
The latest deal aimed at ending the fighting that has festered since 2003 is due to be inked in the Senegalese capital Dakar by al-Bashir and Debby, however, al-Bashir said he doubts that his Chadian counterpart would honour the deal.
al-Bashir accused Debby of failing to honour an agreement reached during a May 2007 pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, during which the two leaders prayed together inside the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine.
"After the prayers inside the Kaaba, hand in hand, we said: 'We have a deal, and may Allah punish he who breaks it,'" al-Bashir told journalists in Dubai.
"If the Chadian president failed to honour an agreement made inside the Kaaba, how can you expect him to adhere to an agreement he (might) sign in Dakar?" he asked. "We already have five (peace) agreements signed with Chad," al-Bashir said.
Chadian rebels stormed the capital Ndjamena at the start of February in a bid to overthrow Debby. Chad said the rebels used bases in Sudan and were armed by its government, charges which denied by Khartoum.
Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade said on Monday that Debby and al-Bashir would sign another agreement on Wednesday on the eve of an Islamic summit in Dakar.
Chad and Sudan have signed several similar agreements in the past two years, none of which has managed to bring peace to the volatile border area that includes the war-ravaged region of Darfur.
Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi mediated in a peace accord in February 2006, while a year later Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic agreed not to support rebellions abroad from their own territory.
Neither country has made a firm commitment to the new accord, the latest in a series mounted to try to end the dispute which has exacerbated efforts to contain the conflict in Darfur.
Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadiq told AFP on Monday that: "It is not very clear whether an agreement will be signed." al-Bashir has only agreed to meet Debby, he said.
