French minister of Foreign Affairs
Bernard Kouchner’s trip to Chad and Mali

 

PARIS, France, 20 novembre 2008/African Press Organization (APO)/ — French ministry of Foreign Affairs Daily Press Briefing

 

Taken questions

 

 

Do you have any details on the ministerial visits to Bamako, Chad and Addis Ababa?

 

Bernard Kouchner is traveling to Chad—to N’djamena and to the eastern part of the country—late on November 21 and on November 22. He will meet with President Idriss Déby Itno to discuss relieving EUFOR by a UN force, the political situation in Chad, and questions concerning regional stability.

 

With respect to the Darfur crisis, Chad has taken in 300,000 Sudanese refugees and provided assistance to 200,000 displaced persons in the east of the country.

 

In accordance with SCR 1778, the largest operation conducted by the EU within the framework of the ESDP, Operation EUFOR Chad/CAR, was deployed in eastern Chad and in the northeastern Central African Republic.

 

The minister’s trip also has two objectives:

 

-to take stock of the first voluntary returns of displaced persons by visiting the village of Lobotike, some 60 kilometers southeast of Goz Beida. Some 5,000 people in all—about 3,500 in Lobotike and 1,500 in the neighboring villages—have decided to return home.

 

-to meet members of an Irish EUFOR unit in Goz Beida, in the Waddai province, 600 km east of N’djamena. This operation is helping secure eastern Chad and the northeastern CAR, notably through its patrols throughout the area and the escorts it has provided to humanitarian organizations that have requested them.

 

At the end of the day on the 22nd, Mr. Kouchner will travel to Mali to meet with President Amadou Toumani Toure. They will notably discuss the political situation in Mali, a benchmark democracy in Africa, and the country’s economic situation. The meeting will also touch on security in the Sahel, the subject of bilateral and multilateral considerations.

 

 

SOURCE : France – Ministry of Foreign Affairs