Sudan and Chad have struck a deal to end hostilities and arrange a summit between their leaders in a move seen as vital for peace-making efforts in Darfur.
“The agreement stipulates the halting of hostilities and everyone is now looking to the future, especially as both countries and people have big interests [in reconciliation],” Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmad Abdullah al-Mahmud told reporters on Sunday.
Diplomats have been keen to secure a thaw in relations between Khartoum and Ndjamena, regarding it as essential to any lasting settlement to the six-year-old uprising in the western Sudanese region of Darfur that has spilled over into Chad and the Central African Republic.
“Relations between Chad and Sudan should be normalized. If not, it will be difficult to find a solution to the Darfur crisis,” former South African president Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday.
A Chadian government spokesman said on Monday he was confident the deal would hold and reaffirmed Ndjamena’s commitment to make it work.
“The Chadian government is optimistic this new accord will stay the course. We are optimistic because of our goodwill. We are declaring our good faith to be at peace with our Sudanese neighbors,” Mahamat Hissein said.
“We hope that this agreement, which has seen the involvement of several Arab countries and the African Union, will at last be implemented by Sudan,” said Hissein, who is also the Chadian communication minister.
Qatar and Libya have been leading reconciliation efforts between Chad and Sudan after they restored diplomatic ties in November following the latest six-month rupture between the neighbors.
Each government accuses the other of arming rebels seeking its overthrow.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
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