Chad Hints at Sudan's Involvement in the Assassination of Its Former President

The late Chadian President Idriss Deby answers questions of journalists, with then-US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, by his side, at the Presidential Palace in N'Djamena on April 20, 2016 (AP)."
The late Chadian President Idriss Deby answers questions of journalists, with then-US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, by his side, at the Presidential Palace in N'Djamena on April 20, 2016 (AP)."
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Chad Hints at Sudan's Involvement in the Assassination of Its Former President

The late Chadian President Idriss Deby answers questions of journalists, with then-US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, by his side, at the Presidential Palace in N'Djamena on April 20, 2016 (AP)."
The late Chadian President Idriss Deby answers questions of journalists, with then-US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, by his side, at the Presidential Palace in N'Djamena on April 20, 2016 (AP)."

Chad on Friday accused Sudan of being involved in the assassination of its former president, Idriss Deby, and of arming and financing terrorist groups operating in the region with the aim of destabilizing Chad.
Chad claims Sudan is aiding a rebellion by members of the Zaghawa ethnic group operating out of Sudan's southwestern El Facher region.
"Sudan is financing and arming terrorist groups operating in the sub-region with the aim of destabilizing Chad," foreign affairs minister and government spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said in a press release.
He held the Sudanese military authorities responsible for the rebellion of which he claimed was behind the assassination of Idriss Deby.
The Zaghawa group based in Sudan is led by Ousman Dillo, the younger brother of Chadian opposition leader Yaya Dillo Djerou, who was killed by Chadian military forces earlier this year.
In February 2008, a Zaghawa group based in Sudan launched a lightning offensive in Chad along with other groups, forcing former president Idriss Deby to take refuge in his presidential palace, before he was able to repel them.
In 2021, Idriss Deby died fighting other rebel forces in the north of the country, just after he was elected president for the sixth time. He was succeeded by his son, Mohamed Idriss Deby, commonly known as 'Kaka'.
Sudan's government has accused Chad of meddling in its own civil war by helping to deliver weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary forces.
The Sudanese war, which pits the army against the RSF, broke out in April 2023 and has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million, including 3.1 million who are now sheltering beyond the country's borders, monitors say.



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”