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Sudan
Chad
Throughout the 1980s, relations with Chad, Sudan's neighbor on
the west, were affected both by the civil strife in that country,
which often spilled over into Darfur, and relations with Libya,
which intervened in Chad's internal conflicts. At the time of
the Bashir coup in June 1989, western Darfur was being used as
a battleground by troops loyal to the Chadian government of Hissein
Habré and rebels organized by Idris Deby and supported by Libya.
Deby was from the Zaghawa ethnic group that lived on both sides
of the Chad-Sudan border, and the Zaghawa of Darfur provided him
support and sanctuary. Hundreds of Zaghawa from Chad had also
fled into Sudan to seek refuge from the fighting. The RCC-NS was
not prepared for a confrontation with Chad, which was already
providing assistance to the SPLM, and thus tended to turn a blind
eye when Chadian forces crossed into Darfur in pursuit of the
rebels.
In May 1990, Chadian soldiers invaded the provincial capital
of Al Fashir, where they rescued wounded comrades being held at
a local hospital. During the summer, Chadian forces burned eighteen
Sudanese villages and abducted 100 civilians. Deby's Patriotic
Movement for Salvation (Mouvement Patriotique du Salut) provided
arms to Sudanese Zaghawa and Arab militias, ostensibly so that
they could protect themselves from Chadian forces. The militias,
however, used the weapons against their own rivals, principally
the ethnic Fur, and several hundred civilians were killed in civil
strife during 1990. The government was relieved when Deby finally
defeated Habré in December 1990. The new government in N'Djamena
signaled its willingness for good relations with Sudan by closing
down the SPLM office. Early in 1991, Bashir visited Chad for official
talks with Deby on bilateral ties.
Data as of June 1991
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