allAfrica.com * It's the Same Old Tragedy The Nation (Nairobi) ANALYSIS 19 June 2008 Posted to the web 19 June 2008 By Hamadou Tidiane Sy Nairobi Chad's recent history seems to be a permanent remake of the same old movie - of autocratic leaders facing armed opponents in a deadly power struggle, with the complicity and complexities of foreign interventions, completed by the scenes of civilians fleeing the battle zones. This time again, the "armed opposition" as they call themselves or the armed "rebels" as they are called by the government in N'Djamena have launched a series of attacks in several cities in the country's east and are resolutely advancing towards the capital city N'Djamena. Whatever the outcome of this latest violent crisis, to Chad's President Idriss Deby, who's been an actor of this unending conflict and has been present in the heart of the system for more than two decades (in one side or the other), it may sound all too familiar. But can one really get used to violence and war? "The nation is, once again, facing hard times due to the permanent attacks from Sudan against our people", a worried President Deby said in a message broadcast on state television on Monday following reports of armed troops on board pick-up vehicles advancing towards the capital city. But, accusations from N'Djamena against Sudan are not new. Only four months ago, President Deby was making the same accusations when the same armed groups almost seized N'Djamena before their attack was stopped by French intervention which saved the Deby regime. Actually, the two countries, Chad and Sudan, have been playing this same game of accusations and counter accusations for years now and the latest peace agreement between their two leaders has not been of any help. The latest peace deal was signed in Dakar on March 13 by President Deby and his Sudanese counterpart Omar Hassan el-Bashir following strong pressure from Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade. Was short-lived But, the agreement was short-lived and as early as May (less than two months after the signature) an attack by Darfur "rebels" against Khartoum was attributed to Chad by the Sudanese government. Sudan, which according to Mr Déby started intervening in Chad way back in 2003 at a time the Darfur crisis was at its worst, is only one of the many external forces which make it difficult to disentangle the Chadian imbroglio. France, the former colonial master has also always been involved in Chadian politics and Paris was amongst the main force behind the deployment of a European Force (Eufor) in the country - probably in a bid to give its own and at times highly criticised interventions, a more "neutral" or international flavour. However, the neutrality of Eufor and its efficiency are now being questioned by President Deby himself. Eufor, deployed in Chad and the Central African Republic by the European Union with the backing of a United Nations in September 2007, is in a hot spot, where any coherent intervention or action is made difficult due to porous borders, local alliances between ethnic groups in different countries and thousands of refugees and displaced people scattered in the area. By mid-May, some 2,700 Eufor soldiers were already posted in the region and some more were still expected to make up the total of 3,700 troops due to compose the full European Force. President Deby who earlier welcomed the EU force, hoping it will make another shield for him against his armed opponents, has now become a bit more sceptical and perhaps disappointed as to their exact role. "We are indeed surprised to see, as the first signs of hostility are appearing, this force (Eufor) cooperating with the invaders, letting them the humanitarian vehicles, burn the food and fuel stocks, and (Eufor) turning a blind eye to the planned massacres of civilian people and refugees", a disappointed Idriss Deby said in his June 16 message to the Chadian nation. He then went on to question the "efficiency and usefulness of the European force's presence in Chad". Actually the concerns of President Deby may have another source. Meanwhile, ending a visit in Abidjan, Mr Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Affairs minister said that this time the French troops won't intervene in favour of the establishment in N'Djamena. "France has not intervened (in the latest attacks) and will no longer intervene" in Chad, Mr Kouchner told reporters at a press conference. To make things clearer, he also said "there are no French positions to defend and the Eufor is commanded by an Irish General". Meanwhile, in a statement sent to the media, the National Alliance which has launched the latest offensive has called on the French authorities to "honour" the statement made by Mr Kouchner. The National Alliance is the umbrella organisation for four armed groups: the Front to Save the Republic (FSR), the Union for Democracy and Development (UFDD) and its split away sister organisation the Fundamental Union for Democracy and Development (UFDD/F); and the Union of Forces for Change (UFC). For all these armed movements, France's neutrality is more than essential and this is the main reason they expressed hope that Mr Kouchner's publicly stated position could reflect a change in French policy. On its part, the United Nations Security council has condemned the armed attacks in eastern Chad and this may "complicate the situation further", Makaila Nguebla an exiled member of the National Alliance based in Dakar told The Nation. However, a UN resolution can rarely have the impact and importance that military forces fighting on the ground can have. And it's where France - and now Eufor - become the real key players, and of course the neighbour Sudan. All this leaves the ordinary Chadians in the middle of a tragedy of which they are the main powerless victims, such as the three million Chadian refugees scattered in Africa and other parts of the world. For the Dakar based NGO Raddho (Pan African Alliance for the defence of human rights), the Chadian conflict is a reflection of the failure of the African and international community to act properly on the crisis. Thus for Raddho, it is high time that the international community acts to help stop the fighting and also to "put strong pressure on President Déby" so that he can accept to open immediately "inclusive talks" with all his opponents (armed and non armed) to find a solution to the decades long crisis devastating a whole nation and spilling into neighbouring states. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quantcast