Heavily-armed rebels have entered the east of the country from Sudan, Chad's government is saying.
An announcement on national radio reported that "mercenaries crossed the border in the area of Moudeina", north of the border town of Ade.
A rebel attempt to overthrow President Idriss Deby's government was thwarted last month.
Mr Deby is due to sign a non-aggression pact in the next few hours with President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan.
There is no independent confirmation of the incursion, but it was reportedly denied by the leader of the main Chadian rebel alliance, Mahamat Nouri.
According to the AFP news agency, General Nouri accused Chad's government of looking for "an excuse" not to sign the peace agreement with Sudan.
"There is no fresh offensive", it reported him as saying. "Nothing in particular is going on."
Accusations
Chad has accused Sudan of supporting Chadian rebels.
These charges are denied by Khartoum, which in turn accuses Chad of backing rebels in Sudan's Darfur region.
The two leaders were expected to meet on Wednesday, but President Bashir failed to turn up, blaming a headache after a long journey to get to the meeting in the Senegalese capital, Dakar.
They are due to sign a deal to stop supporting rebels in each other's territory, in an agreement overseen by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Previous agreements between the two countries have collapsed.
Coup attempt
In recent weeks Chad has taken steps to prevent attacks from rebels, including digging a deep trench around the capital, N'Djamena, and cutting down trees which could provide cover for attackers.
The government fought off last month's attempted coup in a fierce two-day battle.
Rebel columns in pick-up trucks rode into N'Djamena on 2 February, aiming to overthrow Mr Deby, who took shelter in his palace as street fighting raged.
The attack took place just before the deployment of a European peacekeeping force, to safeguard refugees from Darfur in eastern Chad and the Central African Republic.
A state of emergency was imposed to restore order after the coup attempt.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7293933.stm
Published: 2008/03/13 11:50:10 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Monitor de LCD, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://monitor-de-lcd.blogspot.com. A hug.
Post a Comment