CHAD: FIGHTING CONTINUES, DEFENSE MINISTER FIRED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NDJAMENA 000920 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREF PREL CD SU SUBJECT: CHAD: FIGHTING CONTINUES, DEFENSE MINISTER FIRED REF: NDJAMENA 916 NDJAMENA 00000920 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Heaving fighting continues between the government and rebel factions in eastern Chad, with significant casualties among the President's clan. President Deby returned to N'Djamena on December 1 to commemorate 17 years in power and to fire the Defense Minister (former FUC rebel Mahamat Nour) before returning to the front. It remains to be seen whether the long-anticipated rupture with Nour will result in the migration of FUC troops back to the rebellion. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) Fighting between the Chadian national army (french acronym ANT) and the rebel groups UFDD and RFC continues in the east, with the current locus around the town of Biltine. The ANT continues to mobilize and move additional troops to the east. (One of two U.S.-trained Pan-Sahel Initiative (PSI) battalions has been at the front since the commencement of hostilities.) French planes are ferrying in wounded soldiers to N'Djamena. The military hospitals are overflowing, and throngs of family members are camped outside awaiting word on the wounded. The most serious cases have been flown on to Dakar, Tripoli and Cairo. Cameroon has also offered to take wounded soldiers for treatment. ¶3. (SBU) The annual commemoration of President Deby's accession to power was celebrated as usual with a military parade on December 1. The President returned from the east to attend the parade, and then flew back to Abeche. President Deby walked and stood at attention, but he did not deliver an address (the Al-Wihda website had reported that he was injured on November 29, but this has not been confirmed). ¶4. (SBU) Later that day the Foreign Minister convoked the diplomatic corps and the press to deliver a statement on the situation. Foreign Minister Allam-mi said that the rebels were solely responsible for violating the peace agreement. The GOC had sent a military commission to Khartoum to discuss the cantonment/disarmament of the rebels. This was consistent with the terms of the peace agreement signed October 25 in Sirte, Libya. However, the rebels claimed that a political level delegation should have been sent instead, and used this as a pretext to re-launch the rebellion. Foreign Minister Allam-mi noted that the terms of the peace agreement originally called for cantonment and disarmament over three months; it was RFC leader Timan Erdimi who had unilaterally changed the three months to one month. ¶5. (SBU) Foreign Minister Allam-mi informed the group that he had called in "his brother" the Sudanese Ambassador to state that Chad would not tolerate the fact that Chadian rebels continued to use Sudanese territory and receive Sudanese support. However, he softened his comments by adding that this was not the first crisis between Sudan and Chad, and it was hoped that friendship and "good neighborly" relations would resume. He also called on the international community to vigorously condemn - or at least deplore - the acts of the rebels who had clearly broken the cease-fire. (Comment: Interestingly, the Sudanese Ambassador was present at the Foreign Minister's convocation and greeted colleagues with no trace of coldness. During previous periods of tension between the two countries he has always been absent from such meetings. End comment) ¶6. (SBU) In response to a question from a BBC reporter, Allam-mi confirmed that Minister of Defense Mahamat Nour had been fired and was currently at the Libyan embassy. Allam-mi explained that some FUC elements had joined up with the rebels to fight the ANT in Guereda; they had been ordered to return to Abeche and had refused. He expressed confidence that the peace agreement with the FUC would still hold despite the recent events, and explained that most FUC elements were already integrated into the government. (Note: a new Defense Minister has not been named. End note) ¶7. (SBU) International and humanitarian organizations in eastern Chad are continuing to work without serious disruption. As in previous episodes of ANT/rebel confrontation, the humanitarian community does not feel directly targeted. (At the same time they recognize the dangers of being caught in the crossfire.) The Exxon-Mobil-run oil consortium has not significantly changed its security posture. Over the weekend it imposed a 10 p.m. curfew for travel in personal vehicles and warned about police and military checkpoints. The Embassy has also alerted Americans in Chad to the presence of police and military checkpoints and encouraged Americans to avoid NDJAMENA 00000920 002.2 OF 002 traveling at night. COMMENT: ¶8. (SBU) For the third November in a row, Chad is battling rebellion in the east, with this outbreak appearing to be the deadliest for both sides. New factors add to the tension: the high number of casualties (especially among the President's clan); the President's decision to depart N'Djamena and remain at the front, leaving a certain power vacuum in the capital, and concerns as to whether the long-anticipated rupture with FUC leader Mahamat Nour will result in the migration of FUC troops from the ANT back to the rebellion. ¶9. (U) Tripoli minimize considered. TAMLYN