Rebels who overran the largest city in eastern Chad on Saturday disappeared almost as quickly as they had arrived, melting away Sunday as government soldiers re-established control of the looted city center. But even as the government forces retook the city, Abéché, apparently without bloodshed, a rebel column headed toward the capital, Ndjamena. The French Embassy in Ndjamena said a column of rebel troops was headed toward Ndjamena, but it was impossible to say if it had left Abéché or was another group of rebels.This would be a good time to try out the Mirage jets the French had based at Abeche, yes?
| Not enough Israelis in Chad to bother. |
For more than a year, several rebel groups have been seeking to overthrow Idriss Déby, who has been president of Chad since he seized power in a coup in 1990. Chad, one of the poorest and least stable countries in Africa, has been further destabilized by the chaos in Darfur, the region of western Sudan just across the border. At least 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been pushed from their homes in Darfur in a battle over land, ethnicity and self-determination that the Bush administration has called genocide.