Chad capital rebels withdraw

Sudan-backed Chad capital rebels withdraw, indicating a raid, not a takeover, in motion

John Leicester in Paris, and others in Khartoum, Sudan, Nairobi, Kenya and New York with the Associated Press reported Monday, Feb. 4, on N’Djamena, Chad, rebels withdrawal as thousands continue to flee - and rebels clash with government troops for a third straight day.

Gunfights and shelling is still heard throughout the city, a U.N. official reported.

President Idriss Deby's troops may soon be bolstered by French troops in the capital after the UN gave a green light for France and other countries to help the government repel rebels.

Casualties from the fighting in N'djamena were believed to be high, and the violence threatened peacekeeping and aid operations intended to stabilize a wide swath of Africa that borders the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan.

Hundreds of people have been wounded, most believed to be civilians, said Isabelle Defourny, the head of Chad operations for the French organization Medecins sans Frontieres, or Doctors without Borders.

Tens of thousands of people are fleeing the capital, the organization said.

"Fighting and shelling has started again in N'djamena," Helene Caux, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency, said Monday.

She spoke from Geneva and said that staff on the ground in Chad had told her it was impossible to move around the city…

Between 1,000 and 1,500 insurgents entered the city Saturday, quickly spreading through the streets and reportedly trapping President Idriss Deby in his palace.

But by Sunday, government forces were strafing rebel positions with helicopter gun ships and bombarding them with tanks.

French military spokesman Capt. Christophe Prazuck said earlier Monda the rebels were leaving the city. Rebel spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah said the insurgents had withdrawn "to give the population a chance to get out," leaving open the possibility of a renewed offensive.

France, the former colonial power, has a long-standing military presence in Chad and was evacuating hundreds of foreigners from the country.

At the United Nations, the Security Council strongly condemned the rebel attack and called "upon member states to provide support" to Chad's government…

Since the outset of the fighting, Chadian officials have repeatedly accused Sudan of backing the rebels.

An aide to French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday Sudan wanted to crush Deby's regime to keep the European Union from deploying forces along the volatile border with Darfur.

Sudan has repeatedly denied any involvement.

"Why did the intervention happen now?" Sarkozy's top aide, Claude Gueant, asked on Europe-1 radio. "It was the last moment…[for] Sudan to reach its goal to liquidate Deby." …

Chadian Gen. Mahamat Ali Abdallah Nassour charged Sudanese troops were involved in the attack on Adre, and he called it a "declaration of war."

Chad's Foreign Minister Amad Allam-Mi said on RFI, "Sudan does not want this force because it would open a window on the genocide in Darfur."

Sudan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadeq said in a statement Sunday: "We would like to stress that Sudan does not provide any assistance to any side" in Chad.

"Any developments in Chad reflect on Sudan and any instability there would have a negative impact on Sudan," al-Sadeq said. 

The argument stands strong that a foreign presence near Darfur is destined to shed light on the Islamist Muslim genocidal jihad perpetrated by the Whabist-backed regime of Sudan.

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