Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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February 4, 2008

Chad Says It Crushed Rebellion
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1B24D8E:A6F02AD83191E1600E4D9F908F0F129570AD7039DCD7B7E4& However, rebel
leaders say they deliberately withdrew to outskirts of city to give
civilians chance to escape





A street scene in N'Djamena, 03 Feb 2008Rebels in Chad say they have
purposely pulled out of N'Djamena, while the government says it has
crushed the rebellion and fully controls the capital city.

Rebel leaders said Monday they deliberately withdrew to the outskirts
of the city to give civilians a chance to escape.

Witnesses say thousands of people have fled the country, crossing the
Chari River into Cameroon.

Chad's government said Sunday that it beat back the rebellion against
President Idriss Deby. Officials also said government forces repelled
a rebel attack on the eastern town of Adre, near the Sudanese border.

The U.N. Security Council plans to continue emergency talks today on
the situation in Chad.

On Sunday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed "profound
alarm" about the fighting in Chad and its effects on innocent
civilians.

Rebels began advancing on N'Djamena last week, vowing to overthrow
President Deby if he will not accept a power-sharing government.

Mr. Deby has been in power since 1990. He has changed the constitution
to eliminate presidential term limits.

His opponents accuse him of corruption. Some of his close confidants
recently defected to the rebels.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.




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