Chad denies knowledge of missing politicians
February 21, 2008 (BRUSSELS) — Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmad Allam-Mi on Thursday denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of two political opposition leaders missing since a foiled rebel offensive on the capital this month.
“Frankly we don’t know where those two who disappeared are,” Allam-Mi said during a trip to Brussels, referring to Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, spokesman for the opposition alliance, and veteran opposition leader Ngarlejy Yorongar.
“We have set up a unit under the interior ministry to search for them,” he told reporters, in the face of mounting concern for their safety expressed by the European Union and human rights groups.
Last week, Chadian authorities said they had found Lol Mahamat Choua, the third opposition leader who went missing on February 3, within hours of the assault on the capital Ndjamena by a tripartite rebel alliance.
All three were seized from their homes by armed, uniformed men, and their relatives and the opposition have accused President Idriss Deby Itno’s own presidential guard of rounding them up.
A European Commission official said Thursday that Lol was in good health, after visiting him at an undisclosed location.
On reconciliation with the rebel alliance that withdrew to southeast Chad after the assault, the foreign minister said his government was “negotiating right at this moment”.
But General Mahamat Nouri, a main rebel leader, insisted there had been “no negotiation with the Deby government”.
“If they said that, they are just lying. These are lies,” Nouri, who heads the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) told AFP in Libreville by satellite telephone.
“Since the battle of Ndjamena, the regime has shown no signs of peace. On the contrary, it has started to attack the heads of political parties and the civilian population. … With whom is it negotiating? Let it say,” Nouri added.
Another rebel group, the Rally of Forces for Change (RFC) led by Timan and Tom Erdimi, said it was unaware of any talks, though they would be ready to engage in negotiations.
“Officially, we have heard nothing. This is a surprise,” RFC spokesman Id Mara Maide told AFP. “At all times, we are ready for negotiations. If there are negotiations, we are not going to refuse.”
The foreign minister refused to say when a state of emergency imposed across Chad on February 15 would be lifted.
He also implicitly criticised Austria which on Wednesday called on Deby to release imprisoned political opponents.
Without naming Vienna, Allam-Mi slammed the “flagrant interference in Chad’s internal affairs,” adding that if “countries” were unhappy they should perhaps reconsider their involvement in the EU peacekeeping operation in Chad.
The EUFOR mission, which will have 3,700 troops when it reaches full strength, is intended to help refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region who have fled to eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic, together with local people displaced by conflict.
EUFOR began its first reconnaissance operations this week and so far has some 400 French, Italian and Spanish troops on the ground.
Allam-Mi said he hoped the deployment could be accelerated to help stabilise eastern Chad and dissuade Sudan “from sending its mercenaries”.
He met with the European Union’ foreign policy chief Javier Solana and was due to meet later in the day with EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel.
(AFP)