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Chad declares state of emergency after fighting off rebels

Chad was under a nationwide state of emergency yesterday, with a dusk-to-dawn curfew, most meetings banned and limits on what the media can publish among measures the president said were needed to restore order after recent rebel attacks.

The state of emergency was announced on Thursday on national radio and television by Chadian President Idriss Deby, who seized power in a 1990 coup and now faces rebels who accuse him of corruption, as well as a nonviolent opposition calling for democracy.

The rebels attacked the capital, N'Djamena, on Feb. 2 and Feb. 3. After a weekend of fighting in which clashes reached the gate of the presidential palace, Chad's army repelled the rebels from N'Djamena and pursued them eastward toward the Sudanese border.

Deby said the emergency measures would be in place for 15 days, starting yesterday, as allowed in Chad's Constitution. After 15 days, Chad's national assembly can decide whether to allow an extension.

Deby said he was taking "important and urgent measures to maintain order, guarantee stability and assure the good functioning of the state."

His declaration gives extra powers to regional governors to control the movement of people and vehicles, bans most meetings, allows the government to control what is published in the media, and institutes a midnight to 6am curfew.

"These are exceptional measures, but I must do this to assure the regular functioning of the state," Deby said, calling on regional governors to "mobilize all their means -- human and material -- to help restore public order."

Even before the state of emergency decree, the Chadian government had started very publicly reasserting its control in the capital.

On Wednesday, the government paraded 135 alleged rebel prisoners, some said to be as young as 15, charging they were Sudanese mercenaries paid by neighboring Sudan and al-Qaeda fighters. The government produced little evidence to bolster its charges.

Sudan and Chad regularly trade accusations that the other is supporting its rebel foes. Analysts say each country supports rebels hostile to the other.

The Chadian government has also been conducting house-to-house searches to arrest rebels it says are still hiding in the capital.

The government also has been accused of detaining nonviolent opposition members after rebels reached the capital.

Late on Thursday, France said its Ambassador Bruno Foucher was allowed to visit opposition leader Lol Mahamat Choua in a military prison in the capital. Foucher also was assured that the International Committee of the Red Cross would be allowed to visit Choua yesterday.

France, the former colonial power, has more than 1,000 troops permanently stationed in Chad and has come to Deby's aid in the past. It acknowledged on Thursday that it had delivered munitions from Libya and other countries to Chad's army during the fighting.

French armed forces protected N'Djamena's airport and foreign nationals during the fighting in the capital, but "absolutely did not participate directly in the clashes," French Defense Minister Herve Morin said on France's LCI television yesterday.
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