Chad's prime minister demanded the international community remove hundreds of thousands of Darfur refugees from the country, and warned that if it did not act his government would drive them across the border back into Sudan's war-ravaged region.
It appeared to be a ploy to embroil the international community in Chad's years-long rebellion, and prompt it to swiftly deploy European peacekeepers in hopes they would seal Chad's border with Sudan, analyst Roland Marchal suggested.
Chadian Prime Minister Nouradin Koumakoye said that Sudan's government has fomented violence in Chad -- including backing a failed coup attempt last week -- because of the refugees' presence. Sudan has denied that it backs Chadian rebels, who often clash with government forces in the east, and who advanced into the capital, in the southwest, earlier this month before being repelled.
Koumakoye spoke as the UN reported that 12,000 new Darfur refugees had fled into Chad as Sudan bombed three border towns and Arab militias attacked. They join 280,000 Darfur refugees and another 140,000 Chadians displaced in the spillover from the violence, all dependent on foreign humanitarian aid.
"We demand that the international community transfer the population [of Sudanese refugees] from Chad to Sudan to free us," Koumakoye said.
"We want the international community to look for another country so that the Sudanese can leave. If they cannot do it, we are going to do it," he said.
Speaking in the Chadian capital of N'Djamena, he insisted that "We are being attacked by Sudan because of these refugees."
Both of the countries host rebels fighting against the other's government, said Marchal, an expert on Chad and Sudan at the Paris-based Center for International Studies and Research.
He said Chadian President Idriss Deby is not in control of the country, as he claims. Rebels are fighting his forces in the center of the desert nation, he said.
The French military spokesman in N'Djamena has confirmed the fighting.
Marchal foresaw "a low intensity war with skirmishes."
"The situation is extremely shaky and Mr. Deby knows in this type of situation it will be extremely difficult for him to prevail. Therefore he needs some kind of international support, and the way to get it is to push the refugee issue," Marchal said.
Deby, Marchal said, would be looking for the deployment of European peacekeepers to seal the border with Sudan and then for a Security Council resolution -- more than a statement of support delivered a week ago -- that would allow France and others "to intervene to fight the insurgency inside the country alongside the Chadian forces."
But the commander of the European force in Chad, Brigadier General Jean-Philippe Ganascia, said his men would not intervene to stop fighting between rebels and Chad's government.
In an interview on Sunday, Ganascia said that, had the EU peacekeepers been in place, they would have stood aside except to defend civilians.
"We wouldn't be facing or preventing the rebels' column from coming to N'Djamena," he said.
His comments came days after Deby called for the swift deployment of the European force, telling French radio Europe-1 that, had they deployed earlier, it would have "lightened the load," by freeing up his own troops.
Ganascia said he hoped the 3,700-strong French-led force and its equipment would be deployed within three months.
It had originally been scheduled for December, but has been delayed for logistical reasons. The recent fighting in Chad's capital further delayed the force.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of