Chad - The Rebels Won

The Guardian

Chad rebels besiege presidential palace· Déby caught unprepared for swift move on capital · EU delays deployment of Darfur troops as UN leaves Chris McGreal, Africa correspondentMonday February 4, 2008

• Rebel forces cut Chad's capital in two yesterday and laid siege to the palace where President Idriss Déby was overseeing a last effort to save his authoritarian 18-year rule.
  
• Reports said bodies littered the streets of N'Djamena and looters were ransacking shops while government forces resisted the rebel assault with helicopter gunships and tanks.
  
• The assault has forced the European Union to delay the deployment of a 3,700-strong peacekeeping force, dominated by France, to protect hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees from Darfur now living in eastern Chad from cross-border raids, and may possibly prevent it taking place at all.
  
• The government in N'Djamena accuses Sudan of backing the rebels to block the European intervention. A Darfuri rebel commander told Reuters yesterday that Sudanese government planes and vehicles were attacking the Chadian border town of Adré.
• French officials said they offered to evacuate Déby but he had refused to leave. France has previously used its forces stationed in Chad to keep threats to Déby at bay but so far the 1,400-strong French military contingent has apparently concentrated on evacuating hundreds of foreigners.
• The defence minister, Hervé Morin, said France will remain neutral in the conflict, perhaps reflecting the promised shift in Africa policy away from propping up unpopular client regimes.
• The United Nations said it was evacuating all its personnel.
• US embassy staff and more than 200 Chinese oil workers were also flown out.
• The French news agency reported French military sources as saying there were about 2,000 rebel fighters and that Déby had up to 3,000 troops.
• It also reported that government helicopters attacked a column of rebels moving towards the main radio station. French Mirage combat planes were seen flying over the city but apparently were not involved in the fighting.
  
• The rebel force attacking N'Djamena is a coalition of three groups led by Timane Erdimi, who is a close relative of Déby, and Mahamat Nouri, a former defence minister. The groups have for several years operated out of Sudan, leading Chad to accuse Khartoum of backing them.
  
• But Déby has clan links to some leaders of the Darfur rebellion, who launched attacks in Sudan and aggravated relations with Khartoum. Two years ago they worsened further after Sudanese militias launched raids on refugees from Darfur in Chad, also driving tens of thousands of Chadians from their homes.
  
• Chad's foreign minister, Ahmad Allam-Mi, has accused Sudan of backing the latest attempt to overthrow Déby in order to block the EU peacekeeping mission.
  "Sudan does not want this force because it would open a window on the genocide in Darfur," he told Radio France Internationale.
  
• He said Sudan was trying "to install a regime in Chad that will bow to it".
  Yesterday Sudan denied backing the rebels. "We are not supporting the rebels. We have no connection with them," a foreign ministry spokesman in Khartoum told Reuters. "They started from eastern Chad and they moved to the capital."
  
• The Libyan leader, Muammar Gadafy, attempted to broker a ceasefire but the rebels are divided and he was apparently unable to get the three factions to agree.
  
• The African Union has said it will not recognise a rebel government if it seizes power.
  

Victory by the rebel United Front for Change, a coalition of three forces, would have important regional consequences. Chad is home to about 420,000 refugees from Sudan's Darfur region, who may be made more vulnerable by a rebel victory because of the UFC's ties to the government in Khartoum. About 180,000 Chadians have also been forced into camps by the conflict.

EU ministers have approved the deployment of 3,700 peacekeepers to eastern Chad to protect refugees and aid operations from cross-border raids from Sudan but that has been held up by the sudden increase in fighting.

The bulk of the force is to come from France, Chad's former colonial ruler. Rebels threatened to attack peacekeepers who stood in their way and one group has declared war on foreign troops.

The rebel assault may also impact on Chad's position as a major oil exporter since the completion of a $3.7bn pipeline linking its oilfields to terminals on the Atlantic coast, run by US and Malaysian multinationals.

Chad has also just signed a major joint venture with China, but most of the Chinese working in the African state have now been evacuated.

The Rest @ The Gaurdian

China reports a ceasefire proposal by Gaddafi of Libya has been accepted by Mahamat Nouri -this has been deined by rebel spokesman Mahamat Hassane Boulmaye operating out of Sudan.

This would be little more than a roumer for the moment....

-Shimron


"Chadian rebels who were fighting in the capital city of Ndjamena have accepted a cease-fire proposed by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, media reported Sunday.

Libya's official news agency Jana reported that Gaddafi contacted the chief of the biggest rebel force, former diplomat Mahamat Nouri. Nouri agreed to a cease-fire and to talks aimed at implementing a peace and reconciliation agreement.

The African Union Saturday appointed Gaddafi a mediator in the crisis in the oil-rich Central African nation.

However, rebel spokesman Mahamat Hassane Boulmaye said he had not heard of any cease-fire and did not believe Nouri would agree to an unconditional end to hostilities.

"The fighters would rebel," Boulmaye said in a phone call to The Associated Press. He added that he was speaking from the border with Sudan and had not spoken to Nouri since Saturday afternoon.

It is reported that earlier government troops were fighting back rebels amid reports that at least 400 were in the city and had broken into the presidential palace.

The Rest @ China.org

Chad Peace Plan Appears to be in Ruins

The BBC's Stephanie Hancock in Ndjamena says that after some of the heaviest fighting seen in the country in several years, the ceasefire is now effectively dead in the water

Rally of Forces for Change (RFC)

• The RFC said its positions had been bombed by Chadian helicopters on Saturday, raising fears that a major ground battle could soon take place.
• A spokesman for the RFC, Id Moura Maide, told the AFP news agency that the fighting had begun when Chadian military helicopters attacked one of the group's bases in the area.
• Saturday, Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmat Allami said RFC rebel forces led by Timan Erdimi had clashed with government forces around Kalait, some 210km (130 miles) north of Abeche.
  

The UFDD

• There have been days of fierce fighting east of Abeche between Chad's army and the UFDD, during which the government said several hundred rebels had died.
• On Friday, the UFDD also said it had declared war against the French-led 3,500-strong European Union peacekeeping force which is due to be deployed in Chad in January to protect refugees from Sudan's Darfur region.
• The rebels accused French military planes of flying over their positions and passing intelligence to the government during last week's fighting. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has insisted the declaration would not jeopardise the EU mission.
• The UFDD said it had broken the ceasefire because the government failed to honour the peace agreement brokered by Libya in March.
• The clashes follow days of fierce fighting east of Abeche between Chad's army and the UFDD, during which the government said several hundred rebels had died.
• The largest of the rebel groups, the UFDD, is led by Mahamat Nouri, a former government minister and diplomat who defected from the government in April 2006, accusing Deby of corruption, and launched an armed rebellion.
• Nouri is thought to have relocated to Sudan in 2007.
• Deby's government regularly accuses Sudan of supporting the UFDD rebels, who are largely drawn from their chief Nouri's Gorane ethnic group.
• Khartoum has repeatedly denied Deby's allegations, and has in turn accused Chad of backing rebel groups fighting the Sudanese government in Darfur.
  

United Front for Change (Fuc) rebel coalition

• The latest fighting began as President Deby sacked his defence minister, Mahamat Nour.
• A former leader of the United Front for Change (Fuc) rebel coalition, Mr Nour was appointed defence minister in March after agreeing to disarm his fighters and arrange for them to be assimilated into the Chadian army.
• Correspondents say this never really happened and last week the authorities said they suspected the fighters had instead taken up arms against the government again.
• Officials say Mr Nour has taken refuge in the Libyan embassy in the Chad's capital, Ndjamena.
• The FUC Chadian rebel alliance, made up of eight individual rebel groups, all with the goals of overthrowing the government of current Chadian President.
• It is now part of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development.
• UFDC was founded between December 26 and December 28, 2005 in Modeina in eastern Chad. FUC's "president" is Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim, the former leader of the Rally for Democracy and Liberty rebel group, "
• first vice president" Hassan Salleh Algadam, "second vice president" Abakar Tollimi, and "secretary-general" Abdelwahit About.
• On December 18 the RDL and another allied rebel group, Platform for Change, Unity and Democracy, attacked the city of Adré.
• The attack was repulsed by the Chadian military, and the Chadian government accused the Sudanese government of supporting the rebels, which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir denies.
• Chad declared a "state of belligerance" with Sudan on December 23, 2005, resulting in the Chad-Sudan Conflict. The result was the Tripoli Agreement.
• Abdullahi Abdel Karim, the spokesperson for the Rally for Democracy and Liberty (RDL) rebels said, "Each of our groups had their own forces, men and equipment. Now, we'll be joining them together." [1]

References

• Reuters 1
• BBC 1
• Wikipedia 1

Sudan Backed Rebes Mount Major offensive to Take the Chadian Capital, Battle at Massaguet

The watch for the release of missionary Cash Steve Godbold has been complicated by apparent coorindated Rebel Attacks in Chad, with rebel forces moving on the Capital from both the South and the East.

The following is from today's Ramadji, a local Chad e-newspaper.

-Shimron

February 1, 2008 (NDJAMENA) — Fighting broke out Friday between Chadian government forces and rebels just 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the capital Ndjamena, military and rebel sources said.

A military source said "heavy fighting" had been underway for about an hour as government forces engaged the main rebel force around the town of Massaguet.

Rebel sources, contacted by satellite phone, confirmed the outbreak of hostilities and said they had been bombed by Chadian air force planes.

The rebel alliance led by Timan Erdimi, Mahamat Nouri and Adbelwahid Aboud Makaye moved on Ndjamena after crossing southern Chad from bases in west Sudan, which Ndjamena accuses of backing the rebel militias.

Chadian government troops led by President Idriss Beby Itno had rushed back to defend the capital on Thursday, while France announced it was boosting its forces in the country in response to the unrest.

Government soldiers had initially driven east to intercept the rebels, but the head of state and a small escort returned to Ndjamena and formed a "belt" around the city, a military source said.

The manoeuvring came on the day the advance guard of an EU peacekeeping force was due to begin deploying.

The head of the EUFOR operation, General Jean-Philippe Ganascia, said any rebel advance would only delay, not divert, his mission.France, Chad’s former colonial master, flew an extra company of troops into Chad from Libreville on Friday to protect its nationals, and has closed down its school in Ndjamena as a precaution.

"Precautionary measures are being taken for the French nationals in the eventuality of trouble in Ndjamena, including a reinforcement of the Sparrowhawk group," a source close to French Defence Minister Herve Morin said.

Some 2,000 French soldiers have been deployed in Chad since 1986 under the codename Sparrowhawk. Morin said in Washington Thursday — rounding up a 36-hour visit to the United States — that France would fulfil its commitments to Chad, which include logistical support to the Chadian army and help with intelligence.

The EUFOR mission is tasked with protecting refugees from the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, just over Chad’s eastern border, as well as Chadians and people of the neighbouring Central African Republic displaced by internal conflict.

Ganascia said the military stand-off in the country could delay his mission "by a few days" thanks to logistics problems, but not divert it."I am not concerned (by the rebel manoeuvres) unless during their offensive they threaten or attack civilians, or the non-governmental organisations, or UN personnel," he said in Abeche. But he added that if the rebels confront the EU force "believe me, I will face them down."

Observers had feared that rebels could begin a new offensive before March. "They have a window to fight before the effective deployment of the European force fixes positions on the ground, which the Sudanese want," one told AFP.Both sides said French military reconnaissance planes were flying regular sorties to gather information on rebel movements.

About 234,000 Darfur refugees, along with 179,000 displaced eastern Chadians and 43,000 Central Africans uprooted by strife and rebellion in the north of their country, are housed in camps in the region.The last clash in eastern Chad claimed several hundred lives on both sides in November 2007, and rebels last moved on Ndjamena in April 2006.

The Rest @ Ramadji.com

Libya Brokered Chad Peace Deal shaken...

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad's Defence Minister Mahamat Nour called for calm on Friday after a group of former rebel fighters loyal to him deserted their positions and moved to the border with Sudan's Darfur region.

Speaking on Radio France International (RFI), Nour said a force of ex-members of the former rebel group FUC (United Front for Democratic Change) which he once led had pulled out of the eastern town of Guereda late on Wednesday.

"They're unhappy," Nour said. RFI cited some of his aides as saying the armed group numbered 1,000 men and that they had abandoned their positions because they believed other members of Chad's national army were planning to disarm them by force.

But Chadian officials played down the incident and said the situation was calm. "The FUC men who withdrew towards the frontier have begun to come back to Abeche and Guereda," a Chadian presidency official, who asked not to be named, said.

In ethnically mixed east Chad where clan rivalries run deep, Nour's Tama fighters have clashed in the past with militiamen of the Zaghawa clan to which President Idriss Deby belongs.

But the apparent desertions raised the prospect of fresh splits inside Chad's fractious armed forces at a time when Deby's government is trying to push through a peace deal with eastern rebel groups in the oil producing African state.

It also coincides with an explosion of renewed violence over the border in Sudan's Darfur region, where rebels, militias and African Union peacekeepers have tangled in recent clashes ahead of planned Darfur peace talks in Tripoli this month.

A European Union peacekeeping force is due to deploy in eastern Chad in the coming weeks to complement a even bigger United Nations/African Union force planned for Darfur.

Nour, who was named defence minister in March after signing a Libyan-brokered peace deal with Deby, told RFI the ex-FUC deserters were at Birak close to the Sudanese border.

"I ask those who have deserted to listen to us, to be patient until we can find an amicable solution," he said.

"To those who are still with us (on the government side), I ask them to remain calm, to hold their positions and to continue to serve the Chadian national army as soldiers," Nour added.

"This country needs peace," he added. Nour spoke to RFI from an unidentified country outside Chad but said he would soon return to N'Djamena.
Nour, who said he was recovering from an illness, said he maintained good relations with Deby, who has ruled since he took power through an eastern revolt in 1990.

"But I don't have good relations with all the men who are around the president," Nour said.

Deby's government, which has been shaken by splits and military desertions over the last two years, signed a peace deal in Libya last week with four rebel groups.

The accord initialled in Tripoli promises the rebels government posts in return for a ceasefire, but some rebel leaders have said differences remain over disarmament.

Nour signed his own peace deal with Deby in December, eight months after his FUC rebels raided Chad's capital N'Djamena.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa.com

Gaddafi Continues Peace Negotiations in Benin

N'DJAMENA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - A small Arab rebel group in Chad signed a peace deal with the government on Monday after negotiations in Libya, giving a boost to President Idriss Deby before European troops deploy in the country's volatile east.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is sponsoring peace talks between governments and rebels from neighbours Chad and Sudan, as well as Central African Republic to the south.

In arid eastern Chad, where refugees and violence have spilled over the border from a four-year-old war in Sudan's Darfur region, local Chadian rebel groups have waged a cat-and-mouse rebellion against Deby and his forces since hundreds of government troops defected in 2005.

The group which signed Monday's deal, the Chadian Democratic Revolutionary Council (CDRT), was a mainly Arab group led by Ali Ahmat Ackhbach and numbering between 300 and 1,000 fighters, according to different estimates from sources in the region.

• Under the deal which Ackhbach signed, Deby's government and the CDRT agreed to "work for the cessation of violence between different communities in the east of the country in order to ensure stability and state authority there"

While Monday's deal does not remove the military threat to Deby from the east, it gives some relief to his government ahead of the dry season, when fighting is most intense, and before the planned deployment of a European Union force in eastern Chad.

The force is being assembled to protect civilians and aid operations in Chad and northeastern Central African Republic, complementing a bigger hybrid U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force approved for deployment in Darfur.

As fighting has raged across the border in western Sudan, ethnic violence has also increased in Chad's east, mirroring aspects of the Darfur conflict in which mounted Arabs and other nomadic tribes have clashed with sedentary African farming communities.

• Under the N'Djamena accord, military and civilian members of the CDRT benefit from an amnesty, its fighters are to go through an army-organised disarmament process, and the organisation will be involved in "the management of state at all levels".
  

In August, Deby and opposition parties calmed simmering political tensions by agreeing to form an independent electoral commission to hold delayed parliamentary polls by late 2009.


The CDRT was previously part of a loose armed rebel coalition called the Union of Forces For Democracy and Development (UFDD), various members of which sent representatives to peace talks in Libya in recent months.

The peace deal leaves the remaining UFDD groups dominated by the Gorane ethnic clan of prominent rebel leader Mahamat Nouri and of exiled former President Hissene Habre, who was overthrown in 1980 by Deby, a scion of the rival Zaghawa community.

Negotiations continue in Tripoli with factions led by Nouri and fellow rebel Timan Erdimi, while a government delegation has gone to meet representatives of armed groups exiled in the West African state of Benin,

a source familiar with the talks said.