News In Brief

3,000 Libyan troops remain in Chad, Paris report says

Libyan troops in northern Chad stand at 3,000 men, and they are backed by tanks, helicopters, and batteries of missiles, according to a French intelligence report leaked here.

The report in the left-wing newspaper Liberation was prepared for President Francois Mitterrand by the National Defense Secretariat, which coordinates interministerial defense questions under the auspices of Prime Minister Laurent Fabius.

The figure of 3,000 conflicts with Mr. Mitterrand's statement last week that only two or three Libyan battalions - 800 to 1,000 men - were still in Chad.