especially when taking into account the number of security incidents in the past days... This measure is temporary. We have kept enough staff in field offices to continue delivering services to the refugees living around Guereda and Iriba. Two NGO vehicles were reported stolen in the past four days and other partners have also been victims of robbery." Organisation of the Islamic Conference On December 25, the Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, called for an end to hostilities between the two nations and announced support for the African Union's attempt to mediate. Egypt On December 26, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit began an attempt to mediate the dispute between the two countries by speaking to Ahmad Allam-Mi and to the foreign minister of Sudan, Lam Akol. In an interview with Radio Cairo, Minister Gheit said that "Egypt is holding contacts with the United Nations in this respect as well to reach coordination with some of the regional parties and to contain the situation." United States Chadian Minister Allami met with US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick on January 10. United States State Department spokesman Justin Higgins stated, "The deputy secretary underscored that the situation is very dangerous and expressed concern about displaced persons on both sides of the border. He [Zoellick] noted that the conflict between the parties runs the risk of endangering civilians, refugees, and internally displaced persons." An anonymous State Department official said Zoellick was "firm and clear that Chad needed to work with Sudan to resolve this." References Chadian Civil War (2005–2010)