May 12, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 6, 1429

KHARTOUM, May 11: Sudan on Sunday severed diplomatic ties with Chad, accusing Ndjamena of backing a first Darfur rebel assault on Khartoum, and slapped a multi-million dollar price on the head of the alleged mastermind.

The government said it had repulsed the assault by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), allegedly backed by Ndjamena, which saw the insurgents reach Khartoum’s outskirts with the declared intent of toppling the regime.

“We are forced to sever diplomatic relations with this regime” in Chad, President Omar al-Beshir said on state television following the attack on the capital’s twin city of Omdurman just across the river Nile.

“We place the entire responsibility for this attack on Chad,” he said, dressed in his field marshal’s fatigues.

Chad said it regretted Khartoum’s decision, denied any involvement in the attack and condemned a raid on the Chadian embassy. “Chad can only take note of this hasty decision with regret,” said the government in a statement.

Uniformed Sudanese men ransacked the Chadian mission in Khartoum, taking away documents and computer equipment, it added.

The Darfuri attack in broad daylight, one day after Khartoum warned that rebels were marching towards the capital, marks the first time regional rebels have ever brought decades of violence so close to the seat of Sudanese power.—AFP