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| Africa Horn |
| France pledges non-interference as conflict rages in Chad |
| 2008-06-16 |
| (Xinhua) -- France "will no longer" intervene in the ongoing conflict between the government of President Idriss Deby Itno and the rebel movements, who have resumed their offensive against the capital N'Djamena since mid last week, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has said. "There is no position for France to maintain. It is an Irish general who is in command of the EUFOR which comprises over seventeen nations," Kouchner said Sunday while responding to a question from a journalist who wanted to know France's position in the crisis that is currently raging in Chad. On Friday, the Chadian rebels, who launched an offensive against government troops in the eastern part of the country, near the common border with Sudan on Wednesday, announced that they had widely penetrated into the interior of the country and were on their way to dislodge President Deby from N'Djamena. On Sunday at around midday, the rebel alliance, comprising three distinct armed groups, announced that it had taken control of the town of Am-Dam, approximately 600 km east of N'Djamena or 120 km south-west of Abeche, eastern Chad's main city, fueling speculations that a new attack on the capital was imminent. "We took control of the town of Am-Dam at about mid-day. The government troops did not offer much resistance," Gueddei Ali, spokesman of the National Alliance, said in a statement. "Our goal is not to take cities, but remove obstacles on our way to N'Djamena. We are not going to stay. Our objective is N'Djamena," said the rebel spokesman, adding that he could not immediately provide casualty figures due to security concerns. Earlier on, National Alliance defacto leader Gen. Nouri, who led a botched offensive on the capital in early February, was quoted as saying that rebel fighters were dispersed into several groups and were on the move, adding: "the ultimate goal is N'Djamena." Nevertheless, President Deby's government has dismissed the claims as both "frivolous and far-fetched," saying that it was still in control of the town and had inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels during fighting there. "We would like to deny these claims and denounce an unfounded campaign of intoxication that is being conducted by the rebels with a view to causing panic among the civilian population," said the government in a statement, adding that it was completely in control of the situation in the country. "France did not intervene, and will not intervene this time round," said the French foreign minister, who was addressing a press conference marking the end of his 48-hour official visit to Cote d'Ivoire. In his remarks, the French foreign minister also expressed doubts over the rebel advance towards the Chadian capital, citing information obtained from "EUFOR forces who have denied the claims from the rebels." Last week, the rebel alliance has asked Paris to stop flying "reconnaissance missions" over its troop formations, threatening to target French fighter jets. "We want to make a last and solemn appeal to France to immediately stop acting as an enemy towards the armed forces of the opposition. Otherwise, the Breguet Atlantique and other Mirage fighter jets would become targets," rebel spokesman Ali Gueddei said in a statement on Friday. The rebels have often accused France, which maintains air and ground forces in the Central African nation, of providing vital military intelligence to the Chadian army. |
| Posted by:Fred |