Remarks at a Press Conference in Chad
John D. Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of State
N'djamena, Chad
April 17, 2007
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Thank you. I am honored to be here on my first trip to Chad and only my second trip abroad
since becoming Deputy Secretary of State two months ago. I arrived here yesterday from Sudan, where I had a series of
meetings in Khartoum with President Bashir and several of his top advisors. I also had an opportunity to visit Juba and
Darfur, where I reviewed humanitarian and peacekeeping issues with internally displaced persons as well as United
Nations, African Union, and Sudanese officials. I leave for Libya shortly and will head from there to Mauritania before
returning to Washington.
While in Ndjamena I met with President Deby, Foreign Minister Allam-mi, and will be meeting with members of Chadian
civil society. I also met with Sudanese non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement. In addition, I traveled to Abache
and Koukou Anganara, where I visited refugee and internally displaced person (IDP) camps in eastern Chad. There I saw
first-hand how the crisis in Darfur has affected innocent Chadian and Sudanese civilians along Chads eastern border
with Sudan.
The principal purpose of my visit is to strengthen our bilateral relationship and to express appreciation to the
Government of Chad, community leaders, and humanitarian agencies for their assistance to the Darfur refugees and
internally displaced persons in eastern Chad. I also want to express my governments deepest condolences for the Chadian
civilians killed, wounded, and displaced by attacks from the Janjaweed militias.
Darfur is a subject of intense interest on the part of the American people and our government. There is widespread
agreement that the crisis in Darfur has three main elements: humanitarian, security, and political. All of these
elements deserve the immediate attention of the Sudanese Government and international community. The United States is
convinced that the violence in Darfur, Chad, and the Central African Republic is increasingly linked, that instability
in each of the three states contributes directly to instability in the others, and that we need to move forward on all
fronts to improve security and to protect civilians.
On the humanitarian front, the United States is committed to providing support to the victims of this instability. The
United States is the single largest donor to both Sudan and eastern Chad, where we provide basic assistance and
emergency food aid to refugees and displaced Chadians. It is critical that these civilians have full access to
humanitarian aid.
With respect to the security situation, our focus is on supporting ongoing African Union and United Nations efforts to
contribute to peace and stability. We fully support the deployment of two international peacekeeping forces in the
region: the first is a hybrid United Nation African Union force for Darfur, with a single, unified chain-of-command
that conforms to UN standards and practices; the second is a United Nations peacekeeping force for eastern Chad and the
northeastern Central African Republic. As proposed by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the force in Chad
would focus on protecting civilians (particularly refugees and IDPs) and deterring cross-border attacks. These robust
international forces are required to improve the security of affected populations, and are the subject of continued
bilateral discussions between Chad and the United States.
Turning to the political situation, the United States urges the governments of Chad and Sudan to continue their dialogue
and to cease supporting any armed elements, be they rebels or ethnic militias that seek to destabilize their neighbor.
The Government of Sudan must cease its support for the Janjaweed, and all non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement
must stop their attacks, put down their arms, and come to the negotiating table.
The United States is committed to working with the government and people of Chad to promote regional peace and
prosperity. We also encourage efforts to promote a peaceful and democratic future within Chad. We value our bilateral
relationship a great deal and seek ways to strengthen and deepen our cooperation. I hope that our collaboration with
respect to the Darfur crisis can translate into positive developments in the economic and security relationships between
our respective counties.
Thank you very much, and I am pleased to answer a few questions.
QUESTION: Youve just said Sudan has accepted the deployment of 3000 troops, does that meet your definition of a robust
hybrid force?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: Definitely not, but if I can elaborate, that in all three areas, humanitarian, security and
political, the government of Sudan is not doing what it could for the proper implementation of the peace agreement. This
has made it difficult for the humanitarian agencies to operate in Darfur. In the area of security they have resisted the
deployment of peacekeeping forces to their country. As you mentioned, we believe it is urgent that additional
peacekeepers be sent, increasing the number from some 5,000 now to some 17,000 to 20,000. That is the recommendation
that has been made both by the United Nations and the African Union, and we also believe that they must, as I mentioned
in the opening statement, immediately cease providing financial and material support to Janjaweed militias, which we
know could not continue their activities without direct support from the Sudanese government. On the political front,
the government of Sudan needs to do much more to implement the various obligations that they undertook in the political
chapters of the Darfur peace agreement.
QUESTION: Sudan has finally decided to accept the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces. In your discussion with
President Deby, did he also change his position by accepting the deployment of blue helmets? Is your visit to Libya
aimed at persuading Gaddafi to accept the presence of UN forces at its border, since Gaddafi seems to play some role in
the Darfur crisis?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: As I said, there are many elements. You mentioned the statement by Sudan that it would
accept the second phase of the deployment of the peace keepers and this is certainly an important statement. But because
of past experience, with the government of Sudan, our view is that we must wait and see if they would really carry out
what they have agreed to, and we also believe that they must move promptly toward acceptance of the third phase of this
deployment which could be between 17,000 and 20,000. So I think the message with respect to the government of Sudan is
that action speaks louder than words.
On the subject of a U.N. force for eastern Chad, what I would say is that this is a subject we raised with the
government of Chad both publicly and privately. But I would point out that there has not yet been a formal decision by
the United Nations Security Council with respect to such forces. This is a subject that has been so far at an informal
discussion between us and other friends of Chad together with the government of Chad. It is also a subject of an
informal discussion within the United Nation Security Council.
QUESTION: What are the guarantees that the Sudanese will comply with what it has just accepted, what are the countries
that will contribute with the troops?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: There are no guaranties, but I visited Darfur and I met with the African Union commander
Generals, and they said to me that they have only five thousands troops and that is not enough to ensure security in an
area as large as Darfur. So along with the African Union as well as the United Nations, we believe the size of the
peacekeeping force needs to be raised from 5,000 to somewhere between 17, 000 to 20,000 troops. Frankly, I think that
the more forces are present, the better likelihood of assuring security.
QUESTION: What is the link between your visit to Mauritania and the situation in Darfur crisis?
DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE: I am visiting Mauritania to lead the United States delegation attending the inauguration
ceremony of the newly-elected President of Mauritania. And to return to a previous question, yes, the purpose of my trip
to Libya is to discuss the situation in Darfur and raise the question of cooperation with the leadership of Libya in
ensuring the proper implementation of the Darfur peace agreement.
2007/296
Released on April 18, 2007
ENDS