SECRETARY-GENERAL ‘DEEPLY CONCERNED’ BY INTENSIFIED FIGHTING ALONG CHAD-SUDAN BORDER

SECRETARY-GENERAL ‘DEEPLY CONCERNED’ BY INTENSIFIED FIGHTING

ALONG CHAD-SUDAN BORDER

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by the recent intensification of fighting along Chad’s eastern border with Sudan’s Darfur region and the extension of the armed confrontations to the southern borders with the Central African Republic.  He observes that the increased violence is heightening political tensions in Chad and that its spillover effect is undermining international efforts to contribute to the stabilization of the situations in neighbouring Darfur and the Central African Republic.  He strongly condemns the attacks against refugee camps in southern Chad and stresses the need to respect the safety and dignity of refugees and internally displaced persons.

The Secretary-General also firmly condemns the killing in northern Central African Republic of two doctors on a mission supported by the United Nations system to deliver vital medical assistance to thousands of civilians trapped by the worsening violence in that part of the country.  He calls on the authorities for swift action to bring those responsible for the killings to justice.

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For information media • not an official record