The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Jean Ping, welcomes the positive results arrived at by Chad and Sudan, following the meeting between delegations of the two countries, in Khartoum, Sudan, on 25 December 2009. These delegations were led by Foreign Minister Moussa Faki and Presidential Adviser in charge of the Darfur file, Dr Ghazi Salahuddin, respectively.

The Chairperson of the Commission is encouraged by the decision of the two parties to meet on 7 January 2010 in N’Djamena, Chad, at the level of military and security experts to consider modalities of the deployment, as soon as possible, of the Monitoring Force on their common border.

The AU views this development as a significant and welcome step towards rapid and full normalization of relations between the two sister countries. This is all the more significant since such a positive evolution is as a result of direct contacts the two parties have been engaged in for the last months.

The Chairperson of the Commission wishes to recall that the AU has consistently encouraged the two countries to normalize their relations. He reiterates the AU readiness to support the efforts of the two countries aimed at building on what has been achieved so far and implementing the agreements they have reached.

Addis Ababa, 26 December 2009