Government 'reserves the right' to go after defectors in Sudan

The Chadian government does not rule out going after army defectors in neighbouring Sudan, the country’s defence minister has said. Bichara Issa Djadallah said his government is dismayed that the deserters have been able to operate under the watch of Sudanese authorities, whom Chad has long accused of backing Chadian rebels. “We regret that, with the tacit approval of the local authorities in Darfur, these deserters have formed an alliance with an armed (Chadian) opposition installed and long maintained by the Sudanese authorities in Darfur,” Djadallah said on state radio on Tuesday. “Given this situation the Chadian government reserves the right to pursue them.” Djadallah called on the soldiers – who in mid-October deserted their posts in the capital, N’djamena, and fled to the east - to “abandon this dangerous adventure” and lay down their arms. “The Chadian government is ready to listen to them.” The deserters, who last week rejected talks with government officials, are calling for President Idriss Deby to step down. The government has repeatedly said the Chadian army has complete control over the situation in the east, this time with Djadallah declaring that “this umpteenth military adventure is over." But Deby’s recent move to overhaul his presidential guard denotes otherwise, analysts say. Djadallah said the deserters number just 86 and are about 100 kilometres from the border in Sudan, south of Koulbous and north of El-Geneina. The defence minister said that late last month deserters being pursued by the Chadian army took refuge in Sudan. Hostilities in Darfur have time and again spilled over into Chad. And Deby – who has long faced dissension within the armed forces – last year accused Sudan of backing a 3000-strong rebel force. The recent defectors call themselves Platform for Change, National Unity and Democracy and their self-proclaimed leader, Yaya Dillo Djerou, said they number more than 700, but he declined to give a precise figure. Djerou called the national defence minister’s remarks an effort to minimise the problem of the deserters. “This is just an effort to distort the reality – to demonstrate to the international community that our movement is insignificant,” he said. Djerou, who said the group is “in an organisational phase” politically and militarily, told IRIN, “We are not put off by these fanciful statements of the government.” Defence official Djadallah said if the deserters have political grievances, armed opposition is not the answer. “If they have ambitions, let them trade in their military uniforms for politicians’ garb and enter the political arena, so the people can judge them.” Djadallah’s statements came days after Deby dissolved the 5000-strong unit serving as his presidential guard and created a new elite security corps of 1,640.