Chad Rebels Warn France 'Not to Intervene'

While France is stepping up its support of Chad's government following a failed rebel attack on N'Djamena, rebels say they are not dissuaded. They say they have withdrawn to the outskirts of the capital and are warning against intervention by the former colonial power. Kari Barber reports from VOA's West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar.
Fance's defense
minister, Herve Morin, made a surprise stop in Chad's capital, just one
day after President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters that France was
prepared to "do what needs to be done" to protect Chad's government.
Speaking publicly for the first time since rebels tried to unseat
him, Chad's President Idriss Deby tried to quell rumors of loss of
power. He told reporters that his government was in control of the
entire country Wednesday.

The body brigade had its work cut out for it.  
After three days of fierce fighting between government troops and rebels here, most of the civilian dead had been carried off, mourned and buried by their families. But the dead rebels had been lying in the streets for days, abandoned by their fleeing compatriots, bloating amid black clouds of flies. Even the soldiers held their noses.

The fighting in Chad has caused at least 20 thousand Chadians to flee to neighboring Cameroon and as many as three thousand to Nigeria. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Red Cross are providing assistance to the new arrivals in Cameroon.

Thousands of people have taken refuge in northern Nigerian, say the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, after fleeing a bloody rebel assault on the Chadian capital of N'Djamena. Hundreds of people died when rebels attacked the capital last week. Sarah Simpson has more from Lagos, Nigeria.

Irish troops will not begin their deployment to Chad as part of a delayed EU mission until next week at the earliest, as tensions continue in the central African country following a rebel attack on its capital.