ICG proposes inclusive path to peace

Unless the Chad government includes rebels in reconciliation talks, the country will continue to face security threats and political crises, says the International Crisis Group (ICG) in its 25 September report. A permanent ceasefire has eluded the violence-wracked country even after numerous rounds of government-rebel peace negotiations since conflict surged again in December 2005. The report calls for better distribution of oil money, radical government reform and revived talks between Chad and Sudan to end their support of each other’s rebel groups. ICG describes the August 2007 EU-brokered peace deal as flawed, in that it tried to build democracy through elections without helping to create the necessary conditions for successful elections. “The Chadian crisis goes way beyond what [the] August 13 [agreement] can achieve,” the ICG’s deputy director for Africa, Daniela Kroslak told IRIN. “We have to look at.decentralising the state authority, and security sector and judicial reforms – all of which are components without which democracy cannot thrive.”

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80616