Chad Bubbling

[SWJED]

13 April Associated press - Chad's President Now Facing Insurgency.

Chad's president, Idriss Deby, was embraced as a unifier when he seized power by force in 1990.

Now some of the former military pilot's own relatives have turned on him in a scramble for power heightened by the discovery of oil in a central African country with few other resources and a history of instability.

Deby, a celebrated military strategist, has played a key role in that volatile history. The rebels he now faces are even emulating him. They have used the Darfur region of neighboring Sudan as a staging ground, just as he did 16 years ago. In an attack Thursday on the capital - which Deby's forces repulsed - the rebels raced in light trucks, a tactic Deby has deployed....

The competition for power in Chad has become more intense since the country began exporting oil in 2004.

Sudan's interest in cutting off Chadian support for Darfurian rebels and the Chadian rebels' desire for power appear to have combined to place Deby at serious risk.

[Tom Odom]

News reports this AM indicated that rebel forces have entered the capital

Chad unrest delays deployment of European peacekeepers

BRUSSELS, Belgium: The European Union has postponed the deployment of advance units of its peacekeeping force in Chad after an upsurge in rebel activity in the central African nation, EU military officials said Friday.

Two planes carrying about 50 Irish special forces and military equipment from Austria were canceled Thursday evening until the EU has a clearer picture of the impact of a rebel offensive against Chad's government, Irish and Austrian officers said.

"The incursion into Chad of a rebel group has caused a security situation and as a precaution EUFOR has restricted troop movements in Chad and into Chad since yesterday evening," said Commandant Dan Harvey, a spokesman for the EU operation.

"This unstable situation has led EUFOR to postpone flights planned for today and it could postpone the arrival of the EUFOR troops for a few days," Harvey added in a telephone interview from the headquarters of the EU mission in Paris.

The Irish special forces were to have formed part of an advance force to help set up the peacekeeping mission which is due to be up and running early next month

[Tom Odom]

C'est toujours le meme chose

France moving troops to Chad


PARIS, France (CNN) -- The French Defense Ministry said Friday it is dispatching 140 soldiers from Gabon to Chad's capital of N'Djamena as a precaution to protect French citizens after renewed fighting between government troops and rebels.

The ministry spokesman said concerns were raised over the safety of French citizens by reports the Chad military had been fighting a rebel force hostile to President Idriss Deby north and east of N'Djamena.

A ministry spokesman said because of rebel activity in the former French colony, the decision was made to reinforce the garrison of French troops stationed in the city to "ensure the security of French citizens."

The French move came as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said he is "deeply concerned at the resumption of fighting in Chad."

Ban's spokesman said he "deplores any action that could worsen the already grave humanitarian situation especially in eastern Chad where the international community is actively engaged in activities to provide relief and secure the voluntary, safe and sustainable return of refugees and displaced persons in eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic

[wm]

Chad rebels fight inside capital

Thousands of Chadian rebels have entered the capital N'Djamena and are advancing on the presidential palace.
There has been intense gunfire in the city centre, and a witness said army tanks were burning in the streets.

But the country's foreign minister said President Idriss Deby was inside the palace and the situation in the city was under control.

The French Foreign Ministry condemned the attempt to "seize power by force", blaming "armed forces from outside".

The Chadian and Sudanese governments accuse each other of backing rebels in each others' territory, and the rebels began their advance on N'Djamena from near Chad's eastern border with Sudan earlier this week.

France called on its citizens in Chad to stay indoors, reversing an earlier order to gather at evacuation points.

The African Union called for an end to the rebels' advance, and said it would expel Chad from the organisation if they took power.

The whole piece is here

[JJackson]

Chad capital hit by new fighting
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7224691.stm

[Stan]

Interesting this near immediate flare up when I think back on all the French involvement from the late 80s. Then it was US Hawk batteries (transported by US C-5s via Zaire), on occasion a few aging Mirage IIIs on Kinshasa's tarmac, and lately the Arche de Zoe affair (The French accused of kidnapping Chadian children). I'm certain that's done wonders for the scrutiny of humanitarian and other aid organizations in the region.

Back to battle - The rebels accuse the French army of feeding strategic information to the Chadian army thanks to the their Mirage jets which regularly over fly the rebel border hide-outs.

France, which has more than 1,000 troops stationed in Chad, says it keeps a check on rebel movements in order to protect its citizens in N'Djamena from possible attack.

The UFDD say they consider the French army an enemy and have gone on to issue a statement declaring a state of war against all foreign troops on Chadian soil.

There goes any hope of foreign military protection to aid workers

Well, they are helping US Expats

The U.S. Embassy requests that all American citizens still in N’Djamena who would like to be evacuated should prepare to depart immediately, and identify themselves to the French military, who will retrieve American citizens to escort them to the airport.

[Stan]

CAIRO, February 5 (RIA Novosti) - Reports emerged on Tuesday saying Chadian rebels had agreed on a ceasefire to end three days of hostilities, but authorities insisted they had defeated the insurgents with no such deal reached.

The rebels are a loose coalition of three opposition groups whose leaders accuse President Idriss Deby of corruption and embezzling millions of dollars in oil revenue.

Media in several Arab countries cited a spokesman for the rebel forces as saying they had given their agreement to an immediate ceasefire due to "the suffering of the Chadian people," and in line with the peace initiatives put forward by the African Union's mediators.

However, French media cited in their latest reports Chad's prime minister, Nourredine Delwa Kassire Coumakoye, as saying that the insurgency had been quashed and that the remaining rebel forces were fleeing the area around the capital.

"Why a ceasefire? They [the rebels] don't exist any more. With whom would we sign a ceasefire? We've got them under control," Coumakoye told international news channel France 24.

[JJackson]

Chad to pardon French kidnappers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7232327.stm

Mr Deby made the pardon offer in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, after talks with Defence Minister Herve Morin.

During the visit he thanked France, the former colonial power in Chad, for backing his government.

He said Paris had provided vital information in the face of a week-long assault, during which the rebels briefly stormed N'Djamena.

[Stan]

France Advises Nationals to Stay

The government of France has granted permission to its residents in Chad, who are still in evacuation centres, to remain if they wish, as calm and some degree of normalcy has returned to N'djamena, the capital city.

It however cautioned them not to travel out of the capital and to observe the hours of curfew until absolute normalcy is restored in the country.

According to a statement released by the Embassy of France in Abuja, the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Mr. Bernard Kouchner disclosed that 485 French and 444 foreigners had arrived France from Chad and there are still many French citizens in the gathering points at the Cité Lamy and the Novotel; a recommendation has been made for them to go home.

[Jedburgh]

SWP Comments, 19 Feb 08: The Chad Crisis and Operation EUFOR Chad/CAR

Recent fighting between three rebel groups and the Chadian army calls into question the deployment and purpose of Operation EUFOR Chad/CAR, which the Council of the European Union launched on 15 October 2007. The escalation of violence and open French political and military support for the authoritarian regime of President Idriss Déby have fundamentally changed the political circumstances under which the EU operation will be deployed. Therefore, the EU should re-examine EUFOR's underlying purposes. It should also consider abandoning the entire operation.....