Chad has declared victory after several days of fighting in the eastern desert against anti-government forces.
The claim on Saturday came after battles which left scores of people dead and provoked the government to threaten to break off ties with neighbouring Sudan.
Idriss Deby Itno, the Chadian president, renewed his accusations that the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) is being backed by Sudan, warning that diplomacy between the nations could be cut.

The first democratic poll in more than 20 years is to be held after a 2005 peace deal that ended a north-south civil war.
A U.N. panel of experts has suggested that Sudan delay elections due for July 2009 by at least four months because of expected heavy rains and logistical problems, a senior U.N. official said on Friday.
The first democratic poll in more than 20 years is to be held after a 2005 peace deal that ended a north-south civil war in Africa’s biggest country.

Russia has sold 12 MiG-29 fighter jets to Sudan, the Sudanese defense minister, Abdel Rahim Mohammed Hussein, said during a visit to Moscow on Friday, according to Russian news agencies.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — President Omar al-Bashir offered a ceasefire in Darfur on Wednesday and promised to disarm militias, a top rebel demand, in a new push by his government to show it is serious about ending the nearly 6-year-old conflict.
Darfur rebels dismissed the moves, saying they don’t trust al-Bashir and want to see disarmament of the feared janjaweed militias before agreeing to a ceasefire.

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese flooded the streets of Khartoum Wednesday for the funeral of a former president in a potent show of strength for one of Sudan’s strongest opposition parties.
Ahmed al-Mirghani was president of Sudan from 1986 to 1989, leading the country’s last democratically elected government, before being overthrown in a coup by current leader Omar al-Bashir.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Kidnappers killed five Chinese oil workers on Monday out of nine they had been holding hostage in central Sudan for more than a week, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry blamed the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), a Darfur rebel group, for seizing and killing the Chinese. A London-based JEM official denied the group was involved.

Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir is the President of Sudan.

KHARTOUM – Sudanese government forces and a rebel faction have clashed in north Darfur, two rebel groups said on Friday.
Mohamed Abdullah, a commander with a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) headed by Abdel-Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, said his group lost two fighters but captured a number of government vehicles and weapons in the clash on Thursday.