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Chad: Hardline Rebel Faction in North Rejects Peace Deal
Hardliners in a rebel movement that has been fighting the government of President Idriss Deby in northern Chad have disassociated themselves from a peace accord signed by moderates at the weekend.
| "Yar! We don't need no stinkin' peace accord!" |
The hardline wing of the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) said in statement delivered to the French news agency AFP in Libreville, Gabon, on Monday that it did not recognised the peace agreement signed by Adoum Togoi Abbo of the MDJT's moderate wing in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Sunday. AFP quoted the statement as saying that Togoi Abbo, who negotiated the deal in secret, had "no legitimity to represent the movement."
| "Yeah! We never liked him anyway! What a wuss!" |
The hardliners said in a separate statement to AFP that they had killed 30 government troops in a clash in the Tibesti mountains near the oasis of Wour on Sunday as the peace agreement was being signed.
| "We did it just to be mean!" |
IRIN contacted by telephone the Ministry of Communications and an independent Chadian journalist in the Chadian capital N'Djamena, but neither were able to confirm this claim.
| "Hell, I dunno! This is Chad, y'know. Who knows what happens?" |
Togoi Abbo, who had been exiled in Burkina Faso since 2000, and Chad's Security Minister Abderamane Moussa signed the latest peace agreement, 23 months after the collapse of a previous deal, negotiated in Libya. The new peace accord provides for an immediate ceasefire, the conversion of the MDJT into a legal political party with several ministers in government and the integration of MDJT fighters into the government army.
| Oh, that should make it work better... |
The MDJT was created in 1998 by the late Youssouf Togoimi, who formerly served as Deby's defense minister. It draws most of its support from the Toubou people of northern Chad and has traditionally had close links with Libya.
| "We're, like, into petroleum products..." |
When Togoimi died in a Libyan hospital from wounds received in a land mine explosion in September last year, Togoi Abbo, a former Chadian ambassador to Tripoli, took over the leadership of the movement. However, he remains opposed by hardliners. The journalist in N'Djamena told IRIN that these mainly live in Europe and are out of touch with what is really going on inside the country. "The average Chadian doesn't give any credit to those who talk from abroad", the journalist, who has been following closely the government's reconciliation with Togoi Abbo's wing of the MDJT, told IRIN.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-12-17 |
