Rebel Groups in Chad Expected to Sign Peace Agreement with Government

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

NDJAMENA, Chad – Leaders of four rebel groups in Chad agreed to sign a peace agreement with the government. These peace talks will be mediated by the government of Libya.  The Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), which is led by a “regional power-broker” Mahamat Nouri, is expected to sign the peace deal.

Experts believe that this peace agreement will help pave the way for the United Nations to send in peacekeeping forces in Chad’s insecure eastern border. This peace deal comes a month after another deal was struck between a smaller rebel group and the government which called for a total ceasefire and amnesty for militant fighters.

The Foreign Minister to Chad stated “We dare to hope that it will create conditions that will foster stability and reconstruction in the eastern region of our country that have been devastated by incursions of the Sudanese Janjaweed and other armed men coming from Darfur.”

A Chadian government official in N’djamena stated, “an official signing ceremony will be organised in the presence of a number of heads of state to make the document public.”

The bloodshed in Darfur, Sudan, has spilled over into Chad and the Central African Republic. Presently, there are 240,000 refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region in eastern Chad and 173,000 internally displaced people.

Rebel groups have waged rebellion against President Idriss Deby for years. Rebels were especially angry with Deby because in 2005 he modified the country’s constitution to allow himself to run for a third term in office. Moreover, rebels are also critical of the involvement of United Nation forces in the region.

There is an estimation that 30,000 French EU troops and 300 UN police will arrive shortly in Chad to oversee the displacement camps.

BBC – Chad Rebels agree move to peace – 4 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Chad: Government, Rebels Reach Peace Deal – 4 October 2007

AllAfrica.com – Chad: Country Pledges Full Cooperation for New UN Peacekeeping Presence – 2 October 2007

Author: Impunity Watch Archive