TCHAD / CHAD

Rapports sur les relations éthniques / Reports on Ethnic Relations

12 / 16 / 2003

IRIN 

"Hardline rebel faction in north rejects peace deal"

Hardliners in a rebel movement that has been fighting the government of President Idriss Deby in northern Chad have disassociated themselves from a peace accord signed by moderates at the weekend.

The hardline wing of the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT)said in statement delivered to the French news agency AFP in Libreville, Gabon, on Monday that it did not recognised the peace agreement signed by Adoum Togoi Abbo of the MDJT's moderate wing in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Sunday.

AFP quoted the statement as saying that Togoi Abbo, who negotiated the deal in secret, had no legitimity to represent the movement."

The hardliners said in a separate statement to AFP that they had killed 30 government troops in a clash in the Tibesti mountains near the oasis of Wour on Sunday as the peace agreement was being signed.

IRIN contacted by telephone the Ministry of Communications and an independent Chadian journalist in the Chadian capital N'Djamena, but neither were able to confirm this claim.

Togoi Abbo, who had been exiled in Burkina Faso since 2000, and Chad s Security Minister Abderamane Moussa signed the latest peace agreement, 23 months after the collapse of a previous deal, negotiated in Libya.

The new peace accord provides for an immediate ceasefire, the conversion of the MDJT into a legal political party with several ministers in government and the integration of MDJT fighters into the government army.

The MDJT was created in 1998 by the late Youssouf Togoimi, who formerly served as Deby s defense minister. It draws most of its support from the Toubou people of northern Chad and has traditionally had close links with Libya.

When Togoimi died in a Libyan hospital from wounds received in a land mine explosion in September last year, Togoi Abbo, a former Chadian ambassador to Tripoli, took over the leadership of the movement.

However, he remains opposed by hardliners. The journalist in N'Djamena told IRIN that these mainly live in Europe and are out of touch with what is really going on inside the country.

The average Chadian doesn t give any credit to those who talk from abroad , the journalist, who has been following closely the government's reconciliation with Togoi Abbo's wing of the MDJT, told IRIN.

A senior source at the communications Ministry told IRIN that the hard-liners were a bunch of hagglers.

Landlocked Chad is one of the world's poorest countries. It has suffered a series of military coups and uprisings by rebel groups since the 1960's, as well as war with Libya for the Aouzou Strip in the 1980s. The contested territory, which is the heartland of the MDJT, was eventually awarded to Chad by the International Court of Justice in 1994.