March 13, 2007: The government has
reached a stalemate with the rebels on the Sudan border, but at the cost of
security in the area. Bandits and rebels continue to loot and steal. UN aid
convoys and warehouses are popular targets, and the government cannot guard all
of them. Food rations for refugees have been cut, and will continue to decline
as the stealing increases.
March 9, 2007: The growing violence
in the Central African Republic has
caused over 50,000 refugees from the country to move into southern Chad.
March 6, 2007: The government has now
changed its mind on peacekeepers, and will not even allow the advance team
(about a hundred UN personnel) to come in and prepare the way for a larger
peacekeeping force. Apparently the Chad president feared UN peacekeepers would
force him to make an unfavorable peace deal with the rebels operating along the
Sudan border.
March 5, 2007: In the Central African
Republic, rebel forces attacked French troops, but were repulsed, and then
attacked by French warplanes. In Chad, the rebel group FUC made peace with the
government, and three FUC leaders became government officials. The new Minister
of Defense is the former head of the FUC. This is the way things usually work
in Chad.
