Rebels enter Chad's capital, fight around palace
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Saturday, February 2, 2008; 6:50 AM
N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chadian rebels seeking to overthrow President Idriss Deby battled their way into the capital N'Djamena on Saturday and fought government troops around the presidential palace, diplomats and residents said.
The sound of machine gun and heavy weapons fire could be heard in the capital as foreign embassies advised their citizens to stay in doors and take cover. Fighting was reported to be taking place around the presidential palace and the parliament.
"I can confirm they (the rebels) are in the city," a foreign diplomat told Reuters. The situation was confused and mobile phone networks were not working.
"Rebels are headed for the palace and are about two blocks from here. The rebels are winning," one foreign resident said in an email sent from the compound of a western embassy in N'Djamena, adding she could hear tank and mortar fire.
Rebels in pickup trucks mounted with machine guns had closed in on the capital of the central African oil producer in their most determined offensive in two years. They had fought confused battles with Deby's troops on Friday northeast of the city.
The French and U.S. embassies had started grouping their nationals for evacuation. But after the rebels entered the city, the French mission suspended the operation and told its citizens to stay at home, under cover, and keep away from windows.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said he had discussed the situation with Deby. France reinforced its military contingent in its former colony on Friday.
"The battle for N'Djamena has started," a Chadian opposition Web site said on Saturday, adding that civilians were fleeing the capital southwards towards the border with Cameroon.
Chad says the rebels, who advanced rapidly this week across the country from the eastern border with Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, are armed and backed by the Sudanese government. Khartoum routinely denies such accusations.
Deby himself seized power in a revolt from the east in 1990. He won elections in 1996, 2001 and 2006. Government forces repelled a rebel attack on the capital in 2006, when hundreds of people are thought to have been killed.
PEACEKEEPERS DELAYED
In Addis Ababa, where African leaders have been meeting, the African Union expressed its concern over the escalation of the fighting in Chad, which has delayed the imminent deployment of European Union peacekeepers bound for eastern Chad.
