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'We are in a war situation'
11/02/2008 11:53 - (SA)
N'Djamena - Traces of blood can still be seen in the home of Saleh Kebzabo, a member of the political opposition in Chad who escaped arrest by government soldiers after rebels entered the capital earlier this month.
"Soldiers arrived in the night time. They looked for me but I was travelling," said Kebzabo. "My brother was in the kitchen and, when he left, they fired a submachine gun at his legs."
This was after rebels entered N'Djamena and seized control of much of the city, surrounding the presidential palace. At least 160 people died in the fighting. The rebels had since retreated.
Kebzabo was not the only one. After nightfall on February 03, armed men opened fire in the homes of numerous opposition members throughout the Chadian capital, sources said.
'We are not ignorant'
These included Lol Mahamat Choua, a former president and head of a committee implementing democratic reforms; Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, spokesperson for the main opposition alliance; and veteran opposition politician Ngarlejy Yorongar.
Emmanuel, Yorongar's driver, said: "We have no news up until now. We don't know whether he is alive or dead. Soldiers surrounded the house around 17:30, they were looking for president Yorongar and they took him with them."
Ahmat Mahamat Bashir, minister for public security, said: "We are not ignorant of the fact that these mercenaries (the rebels) have local accomplices. They organised themselves to take them in," said without confirming the arrests.
"We are in a war situation and there is confusion. If the men in question are found among prisoners (of war) they will simply be handed over to the courts. And the laws in effect in the Republic will be applied."
The house of former president Mahamat Choua - also in N'Djamena - had been transformed into a crisis centre for his family and political supporters and activists.
Free, transparent elections
Mahamat Allahou Tehir, spokesperson for the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), the former president's political party, said: "On Sunday February 03, about 17:30, soldiers from the presidential guard showed up. They acted with incredible brutality. They forced president Lol into the back of a pick-up."
Allahou Tehir said: "With his arrest, we are worried that the August 13 accords will be purely and simply buried."
The August 2007 accord was signed between the presidential majority and the political opposition in an effort to reinforce democracy and allow for free and transparent elections by 2009.
Certain opponents preferred to flee, while others were hiding.
"It's a hardening of the regime," said Mahamat Saleh Maki, president of a small party that is a member of the CPDC opposition alliance. "If they do not free them, we will be obliged to suspend our participation in this accord."
The opposition is appealing to the international community, who, for the moment had not organised an official reaction.
- AFP
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