CHAD

Rebels capture N'Djamena

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Rebels trying to topple Chadian President Idriss Déby fought their way into the presidential palace where Déby is said to be. The African Union has condemned the rebellion. A French army plane is on its way to evacuate French nationals. (Story: B.Coll)

N'DJAMENA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Chadian rebels seeking to
overthrow President Idriss Deby battled their way into the
capital N'Djamena on Saturday and fought government troops
around the presidential palace, diplomats and residents said.


The sound of machine gun and heavy weapons fire could be
heard in the capital as foreign embassies advised their citizens
to stay in doors and take cover. Fighting was reported to be
taking place around the presidential palace and the parliament.


"I can confirm they (the rebels) are in the city," a foreign
diplomat told Reuters. The situation was confused and mobile
phone networks were not working.


"Rebels are headed for the palace and are about two blocks
from here. The rebels are winning," one foreign resident said in
an email sent from the compound of a western embassy in
N'Djamena, adding she could hear tank and mortar fire.


Rebels in pickup trucks mounted with machine guns had closed
in on the capital of the central African oil producer in their
most determined offensive in two years. They had fought confused
battles with Deby's troops on Friday northeast of the city.


The French and U.S. embassies had started grouping their
nationals for evacuation. But after the rebels entered the city,
the French mission suspended the operation and told its citizens
to stay at home, under cover, and keep away from windows.


French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said he had
discussed the situation with Deby. France reinforced its
military contingent in its former colony on Friday.


"The battle for N'Djamena has started," a Chadian opposition
Web site said on Saturday, adding that civilians were fleeing
the capital southwards towards the border with Cameroon.


Chad says the rebels, who advanced rapidly this week across
the country from the eastern border with Sudan's war-torn Darfur
region, are armed and backed by the Sudanese government.
Khartoum routinely denies such accusations.


Deby himself seized power in a revolt from the east in 1990.
He won elections in 1996, 2001 and 2006. Government forces
repelled a rebel attack on the capital in 2006, when hundreds of
people are thought to have been killed.





PEACEKEEPERS DELAYED


In Addis Ababa, where African leaders have been meeting, the
African Union expressed its concern over the escalation of the
fighting in Chad, which has delayed the imminent deployment of
European Union peacekeepers bound for eastern Chad.


"We are really, deeply preoccupied by the situation today in
Chad," Jean Ping, the new chairman of the AU Commission, told
reporters on the sidelines of the summit in Ethiopia.


Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, told reporters
at the summit that the leaders of Chad and Sudan had been
invited to Tehran for talks.


Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmat Allam-mi accused Sudan's
government of launching the latest Chadian rebel offensive in a
bid to block the deployment in eastern Chad of the EU
peacekeeping force, which has a United Nations mandate to
protect thousands of refugees from the conflict in Darfur.


"Since this (EU) force was announced, the Sudanese
government has stepped up its attacks," he told RFI in Addis
Ababa on the sidelines of the AU summit.


Allam-mi said Khartoum wanted to stop the European force
from focusing international attention on what he called the
"genocide" in Darfur, where Sudanese government forces and
allied militia have fought rebels for five years.


International experts say some 200,000 people have died in
Darfur and 2.5 million have been uprooted from their homes.
Khartoum says the West is exaggerating the conflict.


Chadian officials say Sudan has repeatedly backed offensives
by several Chadian rebel groups, which have fought a hit-and-run
guerrilla war for years against Deby.


Khartoum accuses Chad in turn of backing Sudanese insurgents
in Darfur.

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related links

02/02/08 Army and rebels clash outside presidential palace
02/02/08 Fighting near Ndjamena; French prepare evacuation