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| Time to flee: The French Army helped evacuate foreigners Sunday as fighting gripped N'Djamena, Chad. French Ministry of Defense/AP |
If Chad coup succeeds, Darfur crisis could deepen
Rebels stormed Chad's capital, delaying arrival of EU troops to help refugees.
from the February 4, 2008 edition
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"Obviously it is very worrying, but as far as food is concerned, for February and March, we have food in stock," says Stephanie Savariaud, spokeswoman for the UN's World Food Programme office in Dakar, Senegal, which covers Chad. But a number of aid workers say their greatest fear now is the possibility of looting, both of vehicles and humanitarian supplies.
The rebel offensive on N'Djamena comes just weeks after a heavy aerial bombing campaign by Chad's Air Force on rebel positions near the Darfur town of El Geneina on Dec. 30. Chad at the time claimed that its ground and air forces had not crossed the Sudanese border, but humanitarian workers on the ground reported heavy bombing around El Geneina. Khartoum called the attacks "unprecedented."
Chadian rebels attempted a coup against Déby in the summer of 2006, complaining of government corruption and inability to provide services to the citizens of eastern Chad, Déby's own region. French troops intervened in that conflict, halting the rebel column outside of N'Djamena with warning shots by Mirage jet fighters. This time, the French response has been more muted, reporters in N'Djamena say, with only a few French snipers taking position in the city center, notably at the Meridien Hotel, just blocks from the presidential palace.
Even before rebels reached N'Djamena late Friday night, the signs of government collapse were already apparent in eastern Chad. Last week, two men in government uniforms jumped a wall at a UN office and attempted to steal two vehicles. Over the weekend, the UN began to evacuate all international staff from eastern Chad, and as the capital itself came under attack, from N'Djamena as well.
Aid workers in Sudan say that a change of government in Chad may have both positive and negative consequences.
"It potentially could be good if the Chadian rebels move back into Chad, because their presence has had an impact on the security situation in western Darfur," says one Western aid worker based in Khartoum, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But there is a downside. If there is a pro-Khartoum government in N'Djamena, then the bases of the Darfur rebels in eastern Chad will be more difficult to sustain, and their return to Darfur could destabilize the area."
No more EU force?
A regime change in Chad would likely complicate, if not cancel, the deployment of a French-led EU force in Chad, designed to protect the "humanitarian corridor" for food aid trucked in to the 12 refugee camps housing some 235,000 Darfur refugees, and the separate camps for 137,000 Chadian displaced people who've fled rebel fighting and ethnic clashes. The EUFOR was supposed to begin deployment this week.
Khartoum may see the new regime in Chad as a way to bolster its case against the deployment of an expanded peacekeeping force of 26,000 African Union and UN troops within Darfur itself.
"This will complicate the deployment of the AU-UN hybrid force in Darfur (UNAMID), because Khartoum will see a new partner regime in N'Djamena," says Mr. Handy at ISS. "Khartoum is always arguing there is no war in Darfur, [saying] there are some clashes from time to time, but they have the capacity to deal with it. With a friendly government in N'Djamena, Khartoum will have a stronger argument."
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