The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Dakar

The presidents of Sudan and Chad on Thursday signed a non-aggression pact -- the sixth deal in five years aiming to halt hostilities between the African rivals. Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir and Chad counterpart Idriss Deby signed the accord and shook hands at the Senegalese presidential palace in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the host country's President Abdoulaye Wade. It came after more than 24 dramatic hours of attempts by Wade to bring the two arch-rivals together in Dakar. Beshir and Deby accuse each other of backing rebels seeking to overthrow their governments and there have been several clashes between their armies. The text of the deal, released by Senegal's Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane, said "we solemnly engage to prohibit all activity by armed groups and to stop the use of our respective territories for the destabilisation of one or other of our states."