Chadian opposition leader Ngarlejy Yorongar, who fled his country after a govt. crackdown is expected to arrive in France according to his entourage. Yorongar's visit comes a day after France offered to grant him political asylum, which he is yet to accept.
  
"France has a tradition of asylum that is well known and political asylum will be granted" to Yorongar, French PM François Fillon told French radio on Tuesday.
  
He added that "the question that we must ask is where are the opposition figures who disappeared" during and after a failed rebel attack on the Chadian capital Ndjamena in early February.
  
Yorongar turned up Monday in Yaounde, the capital of neighbouring Cameroon, where one of his associates confirmed Tuesday that he would travel to Paris on Wednesday.
  
"He will express himself at greater length when he's in France," the source said.
  
Yorongar has given brief and few accounts of his detention since he was arrested in Ndjamena on February 3 by President Idriss Deby Itno's presidential guard and held in a "secret prison."
  
On February 21, he said, he was dumped in a cemetery, where a guard fired two shots in his direction before departing. He later managed to make his way to Cameroon.
  
Yorongar said Monday he would probably stay in Cameroon for less than two days before seeking asylum in a third country.
  
Another opposition leader, Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, is still missing. His family say they have no news of him, while Chad's European partners and Chadian and international rights organisations repeatedly express concern.
  
He and Yorongar were reportedly taken at the same time, shortly after three rebel groups crossed the country from bases in Sudan's Darfur region and launched a two-day attack on Ndjamena.
  
The attack was beaten back by government troops with French military help that did not extend to direct intervention.
  
The disappearance of the opposition leaders coincided with a crackdown by Deby loyalists in the wake of the attempted coup. This hardline response, with a state of emergency and media censorship, has led to international criticism.
  
During a visit to Chad last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Deby announced a probe into the disappearance of the opposition leaders and into the rebel assault.
  
Lawyers for the opposition leaders on Monday rejected the inquiry, since it was headed by a Deby aide and member of his party.
  
Human Right Watch, based in New York, said Wednesday that "the government took Ibni into custody and the government should produce him", after carrying out an inquiry of its own.
  
The organisation said in a statement that the probe "heralded by French President Nicolas Sarkozy ... lacks credibility... President Deby has pulled the wool over President Sarkozy's eyes."
  
The non-armed opposition in the central African state and Chadian rebels have criticised French support for Deby.
  
Chad remains under a state of emergency until March 15, allowing for house searches by security forces and a media crackdown.