Sudan accused of backing Chad rebels

Jan 6, 2005 (NDJAMENA) — Chad again accused Sudan Friday of backing rebel groups against the government of President Idriss Deby, as a rebel leader said negotiations were under way among the groups to form a united opposition front.

“Sudan denies vainly its involvement in attempts to destabilise Chad, the facts bely it every day,” Chadian state radio said.

“On its territory, adventurers are organising around a supposed united front for destabilising Chad,” it charged, calling the front “a puppet group controlled by (Sudanese President Omar) al-Beshir’s government.”

Meanwhile Yaya Dillo Djerou, head of a group of deserters from the Chadian army calling itself Scud, said talks were still going on with a number of organisations with the aim of pooling their resources to overthrow Deby.

Another rebel group, the Rally for Democracy and Freedom (RDL), announced last month that the “Front for Democratic Change” had been launched.

The United Nations reported Thursday a troop buildup along the border between eastern Chad and Sudan’s western Darfur province, saying it was reducing its mission in the region “due to the increasing instability in the affected areas.”

The Chadian government declared a “state of war” with Sudan last month following a rebel attack on the border town of Adre claimed by the RDL, and has called for the African Union and international community to head off further escalation of the conflict.

“The Khartoum regime is secretively going ahead with the recruitment of mercenaries and other elements to put into action its Machiavellian plan — the destabilization of Chad,” Deby said at a regional summit on Wednesday.