The presidents of Sudan and Chad 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. 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 destabilization of one or other of our states.” The two presidents also committed to a personal reconciliation and to normalize relations between their countries. They promised to help establish peace and stability in the troubled region already stricken by the Darfur conflict in western Sudan, on Chad's border. They also vowed to implement their past accords – though widespread doubts have been expressed about the viability of any of the deals. A Contact Group made up of Libya, Congo, Senegal, Gabon, Eritrea and officials from regional bodies will meet once a month to monitor the application of the new non-aggression pact. The United Nations said Wednesday that there are now about 470,000 refugees in eastern Chad -- 250,000 from Darfur and 57,000 from Central African Republic 57,000 from CAR and 180,000 internally displaced Chadians. Three rebel factions drove across southern Chad in late January to launch a bloody assault on Ndjamena on February 2-3 which left scores dead. It was pushed back by Deby's forces with French logistical help. The leaders signed a peace deal in February 2006, and another was sealed in the Sudanese capital in August the same year. Sudan, Chad and Central African Republic made another agreement in February 2007 not to let rebels from other countries use their territory. __
