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Quoted By:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1173344220080211
Chad's rebels on Monday urged European Union member states not to send peacekeeping troops to the country's east, saying the force would not be neutral because it was dominated by France.
The rebels said France, which is contributing more than half of the 3,700-strong EU force (EUFOR) to be deployed in eastern Chad, had directly helped President Idriss Deby to beat off a rebel attack on the capital N'Djamena earlier this month.
The alliance of anti-Deby rebel groups said in a statement that French tanks and helicopters, part of a French military contingent stationed in Chad, had opened fire in the recent fighting. Civilians were killed, it added.
France, which has rallied international support behind Deby, has denied its forces took any direct part in combat, although it said they fired back in self-defense while evacuating more than 1,000 French and other foreign nationals from N'Djamena.
The rebel statement said: "France has shown to the world she is no longer neutral in this conflict that opposes Deby's dictatorial regime against the armed national resistance".
Chad's rebels on Monday urged European Union member states not to send peacekeeping troops to the country's east, saying the force would not be neutral because it was dominated by France.
The rebels said France, which is contributing more than half of the 3,700-strong EU force (EUFOR) to be deployed in eastern Chad, had directly helped President Idriss Deby to beat off a rebel attack on the capital N'Djamena earlier this month.
The alliance of anti-Deby rebel groups said in a statement that French tanks and helicopters, part of a French military contingent stationed in Chad, had opened fire in the recent fighting. Civilians were killed, it added.
France, which has rallied international support behind Deby, has denied its forces took any direct part in combat, although it said they fired back in self-defense while evacuating more than 1,000 French and other foreign nationals from N'Djamena.
The rebel statement said: "France has shown to the world she is no longer neutral in this conflict that opposes Deby's dictatorial regime against the armed national resistance".
