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| Africa Horn |
| French presence in Chad not aimed at rebels: minister |
| 2007-12-03 |
| PARIS - French Defence Minister Herve Morin said Sunday that France’s military presence in Chad was not aimed at rebels fighting the government there, after the rebels threatened to shoot down French aircraft. ‘The French military presence does not concern the military actions carried out by rebels against the Chadian armed forces,’ Morin told Radio J. Asked whether France would consider carrying out a preventive strike against rebel groups operating in eastern Chad, he replied: ‘No, of course not.’ ‘The control of the border remains an operation within the field of the Chadian army.’ Chadian rebels of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development warned on Friday that they would shoot at any aircraft overflying their positions, as a French-led EU peacekeeping force prepared to deploy in the region. The rebels accuse French armed forces of supplying military intelligence about their positions to the regime of President Idriss Deby Itno. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the 3,500-strong peacekeeping force would nevertheless be deployed. France is expected to supply some 1,500 soldiers to the force, due to help secure refugee camps along Chad’s border with Darfur. Other contributors include Austria, who will send around 160 troops. 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. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Darfour relief effort; anyway chad's already propped up by France, who does the airlift in the fight against the rebels. Which is one more reason why the whole "arche de Zoé" debacle is a slap in the face for France, as chad is blackmailing its own supporter, and allows anti-french demonstrations. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-12-03 08:53 |
| #1 If not, then what exactly are French forces doing in Chad? I cannot imagine it is a significant tourist destination. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-12-03 08:46 |