From Texas to Chad: why one rebel fights
For someone in a position of great responsibility, Chadian rebel officer Beshir Outman can be disarmingly self-deprecating.
"I know that in America 'Chad' is mostly a person's name," he says, before delving into the problems that drove him to leave a decent job managing logistics for Coca-Cola and join the rebellion that reached Chad's capital last week.
Mr. Outman, a tall, lean 24-year-old who studied English at a Houston community college, offers a rare behind-the-frontlines glimpse into Chad's rebel movement. His brothers and cousins still live comfortably in the suburbs of Houston, where they hold video game marathons and watch "Survivor." But Outman has left that life behind.
"Most Chadian leaders take care of themselves, their family and their clan," in that order, says Outman, who was interviewed last month near the Sudan-Chad border, before the latest offensive began. As he spoke, preparations for the rebel attacks were under way; a boy of 12 or 13 was packing rounds into a machine gun clip nearby.
Outman is the First Commandant for Internal Security for the United Front for Democratic Change (FUCD), the main faction of well-armed Chadian rebels who last week fought their way more than 450 miles from their bases on the edge of the war-ravaged Darfur region of western Sudan through their native country towards N'djamena, Chad's capital city.
Only before the country's presidential elections, which have been boycotted by all opposition parties, some of the rebels made it inside the capital last week, but were repelled by forces loyal to Mr. Deby. The rebels say they made a tactical retreat and have repeatedly vowed to oust Deby before presidential elections scheduled for May 3.
Only one faction of the rebel movement, the FUCD has 8,000 fighters, according to its leadership.
In early March, one of their forward military bases on the porous Chad-Sudan border had about 600 fighters, and many of FUCD's top leaders. The camp was filled with young men fishtailing through sandy riverbeds in new Toyota Land Cruisers, beige sacks of rocket-propelled grenades dangling from the sides. Kalashnikovs outnumbered shoes (younger conscripts had flip-flops), which made it easy to find Outman - the only rebel in a thousand miles sporting a pair of beat-up Nikes.
Outman studied business administration for a year in Quebec City, and then English at a Houston community college for two semesters while living with his relatives. He left the US abruptly in October 2003, when his father, an investment banker-turned-politician from a leading Chadian opposition party, developed health problems.
Upon returning to Chad, Outman held a series of good jobs with large European companies and Coca-Cola doing shipping and logistics. Being a logistics manager came naturally to Outman. He enjoyed the challenge of moving everything from cars to chewing gum across some of the most inhospitable landscapes on the planet.
