'Deby has lost his reason'
2008-06-22 21:28
Libreville - Chad's rebel National Alliance said on Sunday that President Idriss Deby Itno had lost his mind when he accused the European Union peacekeeping mission in the country of being rebel stooges.
"The National Alliance calls on the international community to witness ... that President Deby has lost his reason," said spokesperson Ali Gueddei in Gabon.
"Deby has not hesitated to accuse Eufor of being an accomplice to the armed opposition," he added.
Chad's leader said on June 16 he had welcomed the force's arrival in the country in mid-March, "but it took us by surprise to see, in the first hostile situation, this force co-operating with the invaders.
"We have the right to question the effectiveness of this force and how useful its presence is in Chad," Deby had added.
Gueddei said: "He is becoming dangerous, not only for the people of Chad, but for all the people in the surrounding area."
Protecting the displaced
The mainly French Eufor force, expected to reach 3 700 soldiers, has a one-year mission to help facilitate humanitarian work and protect about 250 000 refugees from war-torn Darfur in neighbouring Sudan who have fled to camps in eastern Chad.
The force is also there to protect about 180 000 internally displaced people in Chad who have fled the fighting between the army and rebel groups, as well as refugees from neighbouring Central African Republic.
Eufor intervened on June 14 when rebels briefly claimed to have seized the town of Goz Beida, which is close to camps housing tens of thousands of refugees.
EU troops, mainly Irish with some Dutch in the area, returned fire on rebels to halt their drive towards the Djabal refugee camp, just north of Goz Beida.
A renewed rebel run on Ndjamena, which Eufor and subsequent events have suggested was as much about propaganda as it was about military might, began on June 11, with four towns briefly falling under rebel command.
However, the rebellion ground to a halt on Wednesday, after a heavy battle with the Chadian army at Am Zoer.
No fighting has been reported since, with the rebels changing tack and saying they would be willing to negotiate with Ndjamena, while Deby has issued an olive branch to armed insurgents, saying they would be welcomed back into the regular military fold after an amnesty.
Got close to palace
Gueddei confirmed the on-going lull, which comes 24 hours after Deby said the military situation was totally under control.
Rebels from the east of this vast north-central African nation made it into the capital in February, getting close to the presidential palace before being beaten back by government troops leaning on logistical support from a separate French deployment in the country under a distinct Chad-France defence agreement.
- SAPA