LEADERS OF SUDAN AND CHADAGREE TO DIFFUSE WAR

Darfur gets its name from its largest ethnic group in the region the Fur, who dominated the area for hundreds of years. Some 2.5 million people have been displaced in Darfur and hundreds of thousands of people have died. Two human rights groups, the US-based Save Darfur Coalition and the Senegalese group RADDHO (Recontre Africaine pour La Défense des Droits d l’Hommes), have sponsored the Sultan of the Fur, Salah Eldine Mahamat Fadoul, and one of his Islamic advisors to come to the Organisation of Islamic Conference heads-of-state summit in Dakar to try to persuade Islamic leaders to work more actively to stop the violence in Darfur. On 13 March the leaders of Chad and Sudan met at the OIC and signed an agreement to stop supporting rebels in their respective countries. Sultan Fadoul was hopeful that Sudan and Chad will stop supporting each other’s rebels and this will reduce tensions. Chad and Sudan really need to calm down the situation as the [proxy] war between them has cost them both a lot. The agreement was signed in front of [UN Secretary General] Ban Ki-moon and many world leaders. Sultan said it is possible that this agreement will fail also, but the chances of success were greater. Hence it was worth trying.