MORE CRISIS FROM AFRICA

Chadian forces are beating back rebels who had advanced towards the presidential palace in the capital N'Djamena, the French military says.
Thousands of rebels advanced into the city on Saturday and said they had surrounded the palace.

But Chad's ambassador to Ethiopia said the city had not fallen and President Idriss Deby was "fine" in his palace.

The French Foreign Ministry condemned the attempt to "seize power by force", blaming "armed forces from outside".

The rebels began their advance on N'Djamena from near Chad's eastern border with Sudan earlier this week. Both the Chadian and Sudanese governments support rebels in each others' territory.

There has been intense gunfire in the city centre. A witness told the BBC that 30 army tanks were burning in the streets.

French military spokesman Col Thierry Burkhard said Chadian government forces were pushing the rebel forces out of the city, but added that there was not a clear front line. He said fighting was "sporadic".

He was not able to confirm the whereabouts of President Deby.

'Windows shaking'

Earlier, rebel spokesman Abakar Tollimi told AFP news agency that the rebels controlled the city, although there were some "pockets of resistance".

He said that the president was able to leave the palace if he wanted to. Earlier he had said Mr Deby would fall within hours.

France said it was preparing to evacuate its citizens and called on people to stay indoors.



French Defence Ministry spokesman Christophe Pazouk earlier told the BBC the rebel force in the city consisted of several thousand men, and that they had entered the city surprisingly easily.

A witness in the city told the BBC that the town was under the rebels' control and they were firing into the air in celebration.

There were reports of outbreaks of looting, and of residents cheering on the rebel forces in some areas of the city.

"From the third-floor we can see smoke coming from about a kilometre and a half away near the presidential palace," US aid worker Katie-Jay Scott told the BBC.

"The gunfire and artillery shakes the windows of the hotel."

A bomb hit the residence of Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Chad, killing the wife and daughter of an embassy employee, the Saudi foreign ministry said.

The African Union called for an end to the rebels' advance, and said it would expel Chad from the organisation if they took power.

"The assembly strongly condemns the attacks perpetrated by armed groups against the Chadian government and demands that an immediate end be put to these attacks and resulting bloodshed," the AU said in the final declaration of its summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Friction with Sudan

The BBC's Stephanie Hancock, recently based in Chad, says insecurity has been the hallmark of Mr Deby's 17-year rule.

But the tide began to turn in 2005 when he changed the constitution so that he could run for a third term in office, she says.

This prompted mass desertions from the army, and the situation was made worse by the accumulation of oil wealth by Mr Deby and his entourage.

There is also tension with Sudan. Chadian officials say Khartoum is nervous about the deployment of EU troops in Chad and a joint AU/UN force in Sudan's western region of Darfur - both with the mandate of protecting civilians affected by fighting in Darfur.

French involvement

About 150 French troops have arrived to help evacuate some 1,500 expatriates, the vast majority of whom live in N'Djamena.

AFP said a French army airbus was preparing to fly to Chad to take part in an eventual evacuation.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy held a meeting to discuss the crisis late on Friday night with senior ministers and military figures.

The BBC's Alasdair Sandford, in Paris, says France is directly involved in the crisis.

It dominates the EU force bound for Chad, whose deployment has been delayed because of the fighting. Some 100 troops Austrian and Irish troops had been due to arrive last Thursday.

Under a 30-year-old agreement, the French military gives logistical and intelligence support to Chad's government.

But late last year, one of the rebel groups, the UFDD, declared a "state of war" against French and other foreign forces because it said they were "bringing diplomatic, strategic and logistical aid" to the president.

Chad's Foreign Ministers Ahmat Allami has accused Sudan of instigating the rebel advance in order to stop the deployment of the EU force:

"Sudan does not want this force because it would shine a light on all the genocide that is taking place in Darfur orchestrated from Chadian territory," he told the BBC.

Are you in Chad? Have you been affected by the fighting? Tell us what is happening where you are by using the form below: