Government troops led by Chadian President Idriss Beby Itno rushed back to defend N'Djamena after rebel leaders said they had advanced to the gates of the capital, a military source said, as France prepared to boost its forces in Chad.
One of the three allied rebel leaders, Timan Erdimi, said on Thursday: "We are at the gates of N'Djamena."
He also said that a rebel column of 300 pick-up trucks each carrying up to 15 fighters had "divided into several groups around N'Djamena."
"There's no fighting for now," he said by satellite phone, but issued an ultimatum: "If by tomorrow there are no negotiations, there will be war."
Government soldiers had initially driven east to intercept the rebels, but the head of state and a small escort returned to N'Djamena in the afternoon and formed a "belt" around the city, the military source said.
The rebel alliance led by Erdimi, Mahamat Nouri and Adbelwahid Aboud Makaye moved on N'Djamena after crossing southern Chad from bases in west Sudan, which N'Djamena accuses of backing the rebel militias.
The maneuvering came on the day the advance guard of an EU peacekeeping force was due to begin deploying.
The head of the new European peacekeeping force in the country, General Jean-Philippe Ganascia, said any rebel advance would only delay, not divert, his mission.
France was yesterday to reinforce its military force in Chad with an extra company deployed in N'Djamena to protect its nationals, a source close to French Defense Minister Herve Morin said.
"Precautionary measures are being taken for the French nationals in the eventuality of trouble in N'Djamena, including a reinforcement of the Sparrowhawk group," the source said.
The French source said: "Late in the afternoon some of the rebels were seen 150 to 200 kilometers from N'Djamena, as the others had apparently dispersed."
The reinforcements, around 150 men previously stationed in Libreville, were to fly in to N'Djamena yesterday morning.
Some 2,000 French soldiers have been deployed in Chad since 1986 under the codename Sparrowhawk.
Morin wound up a 36-hour visit to the US late on Thursday.
He said in Washington on Thursday that France would fulfil its commitments to Chad, which include logistical support to the Chadian army and intelligence help.
As night fell on N'Djamena, the streets emptied and helicopters patrolled overhead, while France told its 1,500 citizens in the city to limit their movements.
The EUFOR mission is to protect refugees from the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, just over Chad's eastern border, as well as Chadians and people of the neighboring Central African Republic displaced by internal conflict.
Ganascia, the French general in charge of the mission, said the military standoff in the country could delay his mission "by a few days" thanks to logistics problems, but not divert it.
"I am not concerned [by the rebels] unless during their offensive they threaten or attack civilians, or the non-governmental organizations, or UN personnel," he said in Abeche.
But he added that if the rebels confront the EU force, "believe me, I will face them down."
France, Chad's former colonizer, closed down its school in N'Djamena as a precaution.
Observers had feared that rebels could begin a new offensive before March. "They have a window to fight before the effective deployment of the European force fixes positions on the ground, which the Sudanese want," one said.
Both sides said French military reconnaissance planes, part of a permanent force in the former colony, were flying over the ground to keep Chad's army informed.
About 234,000 Darfur refugees, along with 179,000 displaced eastern Chadians and 43,000 Central Africans uprooted by strife and rebellion in the northern region of their country, are housed in camps in the area.
The last clash in eastern Chad claimed hundreds of lives on both sides in November, and rebels last moved on N'Djamena in April 2006.
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