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Chad's troops foil coup attempt
Chadian troops have foiled an attempt to oust President Idris Deby, Chad's communications minister has said. Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said a plan to shoot down Mr Deby's plane on his return from abroad had been discovered. Several arrests have been made and the president returned home on Tuesday night after leaving a summit in Equatorial Guinea early, he confirmed. The coup attempt has been blamed on the president's twin nephews and a general who defected to rebels in the east. A large group of army officers have deserted to join rebels of the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC), lead by Mahamat Nour from bases in Darfur on Sudan's border with Chad. Analyst Andrew Manley has told the BBC that in recent months President Deby has been looking increasingly vulnerable, faced with the growing rebellion in the east and a loss of support among neighbouring countries and traditional allies like France. Mr Doumgor said forces marching towards the capital, N'Djamena, were intercepted on Tuesday afternoon, after the plan was discovered. The BBC's Stephanie Hancock says there is heavy presence of troops in the capital, which is calm. Our correspondent says people have been at work as usual, but had been wondering about what was going on as the mobile phones have been down for more than 12 hours. Landlines are still operational, she says. President Deby was attending a two-day summit of the Central African Economic and Monetary Union (Cemac), when he left after the first day's session. The capital is calmer than it was in December after Chad declared a state of war with Sudan following a deadly attack launched from Darfur by Chadian rebels, our reporter says. Sudan repeatedly denied allegations made by Chad that it was backing the rebels and sending Arab militias in support. In February, Chad and Sudan signed an accord to resolve their differences over fighting along the border. Mr Deby seized power in 1990 after launching a rebellion from bases in Darfur. Posted by: Steve 2006-03-15 |
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