Chad rebels accept truce as refugees flee

Islamist Sudan backed Chad rebels accept truce as refugees flee and fear of renewed fighting persists

Agence France Presse reported from the capital of Chad, Tuesday, Feb. 5, on rebels vying against president Idriss Deby reaching a ceasefire agreement.

French officials said refugees streamed into neighboring Cameroon by the thousands for fear of renewed fighting.

"Aware of the suffering of the Chadian people, and in line with the peace initiatives of fraternal countries Libya and Burkina Faso, the forces of national resistance have given their agreement to an immediate ceasefire."

So said rebel spokesman Abderaman Koulamallah to AFP News by satellite telephone.

In New York, the UN Security Council condemned the rebels and urged states to extend support to Deby.

Washington warned Sudan against any support it might be offering the rebels.

The Chadian government said its forces had pushed the rebels from the capital, Ndjamena, after a weekend of heavy fighting that saw Deby holed up in his presidential palace.

Rebel leaders insisted they made a strategic withdrawal, and ordered civilians to flee the city of 700,000 in anticipation of a fresh assault.

Setting out from their bases inside Sudan, the rebels last week crossed the width of Chad to mount their weekend offensive.

In Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said Tuesday that 15,000 to 20,000 Chadians have taken refuge in Cameroon to escape fighting…

No death toll has been given for the fighting, but many bodies have been seen in the dusty streets, and the aid group Medicins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) has told of "hundreds" of civilians wounded.

At stake in Chad is European and US policy in central Africa and the international response to the fighting and suffering in Darfur, which lies on Chad's eastern border.

The European Union said Monday it still intends to deploy an EU military force to protect refugees from Darfur as well as Chadians and people from the neighboring Central African Republic.

Additional reports of Monday fighting indicated Chadian rebels renewed their assault on the capital through the day, and tens of thousands of people fled as gunfire crackled and artillery shells exploded across the city.

Tom Maliti with the Associated Press reported Chad's capital was mostly quiet on Tuesday, but reiterated the fears of renewed attacks.

"I think they are awaiting some reinforcements but all threat to the security of the city of N'Djamena can now be put aside," Allam-mi told reporters in Paris after talks with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

Chad's government has accused neighboring Sudan of backing the rebels to prevent the deployment of a European peacekeeping force in a region along their border where more than 400,000 refugees are living.

A Chadian official declared the fighting a "direct war" with the Sudanese president.

The death toll from four days of violence was not known, but more than 1,000 were reported wounded, and tens of thousands were fleeing across the border to Cameroon.

Bodies lay on the streets of N'Djamena which were also littered with the hulks of burned out tanks and other abandoned vehicles.

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