KHARTOUM, July 18, 2008 (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.

Following are key dates in relations between Sudan and Chad:

- 2003: A conflict breaks out in Darfur, a vast Sudanese region which borders Chad. When rebel groups there attack Sudanese government forces, refugees start fleeing across the border. Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno offers to mediate.

- 2004: Fighting spills over both sides of the border. Chad hosts indirect talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels.

Relations later deteriorate, with Sudan accusing Chad of backing the Darfur rebels and Chad accusing Sudanese troops and their proxy Janjaweed militia of crossing the border.

- 2005: Chad says Janjaweed fighters attacked a village on its territory, killing some 75 people.

Darfur rebels abduct some 40 African Union peacekeepers, some of them Chadian, from a border town. Most are later freed.

- 2006: The Chadian and Sudanese leaders meet in Libya, but as violence continues Chad pulls out of peace efforts.

The UN refugee agency says some 200,000 Darfur refugees are in eastern Chad.

Chad's own rebels step up military action against the Deby government.

- 2007: Chadian and Sudanese regular forces clash in the border zone, with each country accusing the other of supporting rebel groups. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visits both countries.

The European Union agrees to send a 3,700-strong, mainly French, force to eastern Chad and the nearby Central African Republic to protect Darfur refugees.

- February 2008: An attack by Chadian rebels almost succeeds in overthrowing the Deby regime, delaying the deployment of the EU force.

March 13: Deby and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Beshir sign a peace agreement in Dakar -- the sixth such accord between the countries in five years.

May 10: Sudan says it has repelled an attack by Darfur rebels on the city of Omdurman, close to its capital Khartoum. The next day it severs diplomatic relations with Chad, which it accuses of supporting the rebels.

July 18: Senegal, which has been mediating between the two countries, says they are to restore relations.