|
Chad rebels threaten EU forces
30/11/2007 20:27 - (SA)
N'Djamena - Chad's main rebel group said on Friday it would fight the French army or any other foreign forces, while European nations vowed to deploy troops in the country's conflict-wracked east despite the warning.
"The UFDD considers itself to be in a state of belligerence against the French army or any other foreign forces on national territory," said Mahamat Hassane Boulmaye, spokesperson for the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development rebel group.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said a French-led European force of about 3 500 troops due to help secure refugee camps along Chad's border with Darfur "will go ahead".
"If we decided to send a European force on one side of the border, and a mixed force to the other side, it is precisely because there are problems, difficulties," Sarkozy told a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi following a bilateral summit in the French city of Nice.
"If there were not, we would not have sent in troops."said AFP the threat "does not change our determination to take part in this humanitarian mission", adding, "we are ready to go".
Support 'a hostile act'
Boulmaye accused French planes of flying over rebel positions on Thursday, when rebels and government troops fought an intense new battle near the border with Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region.
A statement from the rebel group said: "The UFDD firmly condemns the attitude of the French army during the harsh fighting."
France has more than 1 000 soldiers in Chad, a former French colony, as well as aircraft which carry out reconnaissance missions and transmit information to authorities in N'Djamena.
The rebels said "providing diplomatic, strategic and logistic support" to Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno was a "hostile act".
The latest fighting - the third battle in four days after the collapse of a ceasefire - came amid new doubts about when the proposed EU peacekeeping force would be sent to eastern Chad and the north of the Central African Republic.
European nations have been reluctant to provide about 10 helicopters, nine transport planes and three medical evacuation aircraft deemed vital for the launch of the force, according to military officials in Brussels.
Peace agreements
Fighting in Sudan's western Darfur region since 2003 has left more than 200 000 dead and displaced two million, according to UN figures.
In Darfur itself, a UN peacekeeping force, set to number 26 000, will formally replace a small African Union mission in January.
Chad has accused Sudan of funding and arming the UFDD and other rebel groups in breach of peace agreements.
|
News
