UN Warns Chad Against Expelling Sudanese Refugees

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's special representative to Sudan Jan Pronk issued the warning after N'djamena threatened to expel some200 ,000 Sudanese refugees currently in eastern Chad in retaliation for Khartoum's alleged support of a Chadian rebel offensive.

Pronk "calls upon the government of Chad to abide by its international obligations to secure the full protection and well-being of all refugees on its territories," said a statement from Pronk's office, a copy of which was sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Forcing refugees, who are the victims of previous conflicts, to flee again in the course of the current conflict, which is not of their making, would result in great additional suffering for them. It would also violate international humanitarian law," it warned.

Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno on Friday, April15 , threatened to expel the Sudanese refugees in his country refugees unless the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region was resolved.

His comments came shortly after Chad announced it was breaking off diplomatic ties with Sudan, which he has accused of backing a major offensive by rebels from the United Front for Change (FUC) on N'Djamena on Thursday, April13 .

A spokesman for the Sudanese foreign ministry on Saturday said Sudan's top diplomat in Chad has been given five days to leave the country.

Confusion over where the rebels were and what they planned to do next, however, did little to calm nerves.

A government declaration of victory was met by statements from the rebels that their withdrawal from the city had been tactical.

"People are getting back to normal life. But they are worried. There is a war of words. The rebels are still getting their message across," Reuters quoted as saying Begoto Oulatar, editor of weekly newspaper N'Djamena Hebdo.

Diplomacy

Pronk also urged the two countries to resolve their disputes diplomatically.

"Peace in Chad and Sudan is essential for the region as a whole," said Pronk.

In his most vitriolic attack on Sudanese President Omar Al-Beshir, the Chadian leader on Saturday accused his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Beshir of "genocide" in Darfur and branded him a "traitor."

"I have asked all the big powers, the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union, all nations who love peace and justice to intervene militarily to save the people of Darfur who are victims of the most terrible genocide carried out by President Al-Beshir," he told supporters in N'Djamena.

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