Fighting in Chad capital, Deby says he "in control"

By Staff
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N'DJAMENA, Apr 13 (Reuters) Chad government forces fought rebels in the capital N'Djamena today but President Idriss Deby said the attacking insurgents were repulsed and the situation in the city was under control.

After several hours of intense artillery and machinegun fire in the northeast of the city, which kept residents sheltering in their homes, the fighting appeared to lessen, residents and diplomats said.

''It's definitely calmed significantly,'' one diplomat, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, although he said there were still reports of some pockets of combat.

The rebels have vowed to overthrow Deby and take control of the landlocked central African oil producer, as well to disrupt a presidential election scheduled for May 3, in which Deby is standing for re-election.

But the president said the poll would go ahead.

''The situation in N'Djamena is under the control of the defence and security forces,'' he told French radio RFI. He said he was speaking from the presidential palace in N'Djamena.

Deby repeated his government's accusations that neighbouring Sudan was backing the rebels and said his forces would display captured prisoners and weapons to prove this. The Sudanese government has denied helping the rebels.

Earlier, as the sound of heavy weapons and gunfire echoed across the capital, some residents reported seeing pick-up trucks carrying armed rebels inside the city limits.

The fighting took place in the northeast sector of N'Djamena, where the national parliament and a Libyan-run hotel complex are located.

Government troops used helicopters to counterattack against a rebel column which had advanced to the city under cover of darkness, diplomats said. French military jets -- part of a French military force stationed in Chad -- also flew overhead but were not seen taking part in the fighting.

''The column which attacked this morning was completely destroyed,'' Deby said.

''The Chadian army has the situation under control in the capital 100 percent,'' Chadian Defence Minister Bichara Issa Djadallah told Al Jazeera television.

ATTACK IN EAST Rebels of the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC), who have vowed to oust Deby before next month's elections, said they had attacked both N'Djamena and the eastern town of Adre on the border with Sudan.

''Our forces have entered Adre,'' FUC leader Abdoulaye Abdel Karim told Reuters by satellite phone. He said he was speaking from Chad.

Both the United Nations and the US embassy were planning to evacuate non-essential staff from the capital, diplomats said.

''It's a wait-and-see situation,'' a diplomat said. Another diplomat, who asked not to be named, said the airport, where French armoured vehicles were deployed yesterday, was secure.

N'Djamena went on the alert yestersday as rebels advanced closer to the capital after a wave of hit-and-run attacks in the country over the last three days.

France, Chad's former colonial ruler, reinforced a military contingent it has in the country and was ready to evacuate some 1,500 French nationals if necessary, French officials said.

Esso Chad, a subsidiary of US oil major Exxon Mobil which operates an oil pipeline in Chad, had already evacuated some staff and their families, diplomats said.

In May's election, Deby, who won power in a 1990 military revolt from the east, will face four candidates with links to his government and is expected to win. The opposition is boycotting the polls.

Reuters SHB GC1616

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