DAKAR (AFP) - Sudan President Omar al-Beshir has agreed to restore relations with Chad, mediator Senegal said on Friday, more than two months after Khartoum severed ties accusing Ndjamena of backing Darfuri rebels.

Relations between Chad and Sudan have been difficult for more than five years with the two neighbours regularly accusing each other of supporting rebel factions fighting against their respective regimes.

Diplomatic relations broke off in mid-May after an attack near the Sudanese capital Khartoum by a Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Ndjamena denied any involvement.

"The president of the republic of Sudan... accepts the restoration of diplomatic relations between Chad and Sudan in response to the solemn appeal from his brother, (Senegalese) President Abdoulaye Wade," a statement from the Senegalese presidency said.

Senegal's Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio has been mediating at talks in Dakar aimed at leading the bellicose neighbours on the path of conciliation.

The talks were attended by the Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Deng Alor and his Chadian counterpart Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Senegalese foreign ministry said.

Chad said it had noted Sudan's offer but was adopting a wait and see approach.

"We are going to wait and see if there is a real willingness to foster friendly relations with Chad, if there is a willingness to leave Chad in peace. It all depends on Sudan," Faki told AFP.

He confirmed that Wade and Beshir had been in contact by telephone but said Sudan had gone back on previous undertakings and it was "premature" to consider reopening border crossings.

"It was Sudan who unilaterally broke off relations. It can decide whether to restore them. The ball is in their court."

Sudan severed diplomatic ties with Chad on May 11, 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 eventually fought off the JEM assault which saw the insurgents reach Khartoum's outskirts with the declared intent of toppling the regime.

But the accusations are often traded in the other direction. In February, rebels allegedly backed by Khartoum advanced as far as the gates of the presidential palace in Ndjamena before being pushed back.

Though both deny it, international analysts say the neighbours are conducting a proxy war.

The news of the restoration of diplomatic ties came after a meeting of the Sudan-Chad contact group headed by Senegal Thursday.

The statement gave no details about how and when diplomatic relations will be restored, but said a fifth meeting of the contact group was planned in Chad or Sudan, without giving any dates.

Analysts say the current crisis in Darfur is closely linked to the problems between Khartoum and Ndjamena. Darfur is the frontier region between Sudan and Chad, and more than 450,000 Darfur refugees and displaced Chadians live in eastern Chad.

In the past week there has been increasing international pressure on Khartoum over Darfur since the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Monday demanded that Beshir be arrested for genocide for crimes committed in Darfur.

The move by the chief prosecutor was welcomed by Chad, which said earlier this week it showed "the international community is aware of the tragedy of the people of Darfur, Chad and the subcontinent."

In its reactions Ndjamena cast itself as the "direct and indirect victim of the aggressive policies of al-Beshir."

The Darfur conflict broke out in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum and state-backed militias. The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have been displaced due to the fighting. Sudan says the death toll is around 10,000 people.

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