Rebels deny Chad govt talks
2008-02-21 18:10
N'Djamena - Rebels opposed to Chad's President Idriss Deby on Thursday denied they were holding talks with the government, contradicting the foreign minister's statement that negotiations were under way.
Foreign Minister Ahmat Allam-Mi told reporters in Brussels after meeting senior European Union officials that the government was negotiating "at this moment" with the rebels.
But he provided no further details.
"It is completely untrue. It is absolutely untrue. There are no negotiations. It is a manipulation of information, an attempt to brainwash international opinion," rebel spokesperson Ali Henchi Ordjo told Reuters.
Deby and senior Chadian government officials have previously dismissed the idea of talks with the rebels, saying the army defeated a rebel assault on the capital N'Djamena earlier this month.
Several peace deals between Deby's government and the rebels, brokered by Libya and Saudi Arabia, have collapsed over the last year.
Chad says the insurgents, who denounce Deby's 18-year rule as corrupt and dictatorial, are backed by neighbouring Sudan, a charge denied by Khartoum.
Instability in Chad, whose eastern border region with Sudan is sheltering half a million refugees from Darfur and Chadians displaced by violence, has hampered humanitarian efforts to provide relief supplies.
The first Irish troops to be deployed in Chad as part of a European Union peacekeeping force to protect the displaced arrived in the capital N'Djamena on Thursday and were due to go straight to the turbulent border region.
The Irish soldiers - who will eventually number 450 - will be the second biggest foreign military contingent in the country after those from former colonial power France, whose troops will make up the majority of the 3 700-strong EU force (EUFOR).
The EU mission to Chad complements a much bigger African Union/United Nations peacekeeping force planned for Darfur.
The first 50 members of the Irish Army Ranger Wing who arrived on Thursday will immediately begin trying to identify base camp areas around the eastern towns of Abeche and Goz Beida, the Irish army has said.