Chad breaks off relations with Sudan
Chad's president has broken off relations with Sudan and threatened to expel 200,000 refugees from the neighbouring Darfur region after parading more than 250 captured rebels through the streets of the capital following a violent attempt to overthrow him.
The move threatened to escalate tensions in a volatile region that already has seen two million people driven from their homes in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
President Idriss Deby said more than 200,000 of those refugees now living in Chad would have to leave by June 30 if the international community did not try to stop Sudan from further destabilising his country.
“The international community has been totally deaf and dumb on the situation between Sudan and Chad,” Deby said after an emergency Cabinet meeting. "(They) need to understand the situation and that enough is enough."
An attack on N’djamena by the rebel United Front for Change set off the latest crisis. At least 350 people – troops, rebels and civilians – died in the failed rebel assault, Cabinet minister Gen. Mahamet Ali Abdullah said yesterday.
