Chad capital hit by new fighting

Fresh fighting has broken out between government and rebel forces in Chad's capital N'Djamena, reports say.
Heavy weapons fire was heard near the palace where President Idriss Deby is said to be holding out.

Rebels seized large parts of the city on Saturday, but military action subsided overnight as both sides claimed to be in control.

More than 500 French and other foreign citizens have been evacuated to the Gabonese capital, Libreville.

The arriving evacuees appeared "harassed but happy", an AFP news agency journalist in Libreville said.

"It's been a hard, exhausting day. We didn't know how things might turn out," one mother told the agency.

Of the 514 evacuated, 217 were French and the rest included Germans, Belgians, Spanish, Portuguese, Armenians and Egyptians.

About 400 others are gathered in designated areas in N'Djamena, guarded by French troops.

Ceasefire

Witnesses heard anti-tank and automatic weapons fire coming from the city centre, starting at about 0500 local time (0400 GMT).

AFP reported that government helicopters had attacked a column of rebels in the south of the city heading towards the main radio station.

French Mirage combat planes have also been overflying the area.

French officials say Paris is neutral in the military conflict but politically backs Mr Deby's government.

France has also offered to evacuate Mr Deby but he refused to go, French officials told AFP.

Meanwhile French Defence Minister Herve Morin confirmed that the Chadian army chief of staff, Daoud Soumain, had been killed in combat during the rebel advance on the capital.

The fighting comes despite reports of a ceasefire brokered by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Rebel spokesman Abderamane Khoulamanla confirmed reports that Colonel Gaddafi had called rebel leader Mahamat Nouri to propose a ceasefire.

"Our leader replied that he would agree to that if his two other partners in the rebellion would agree as well," Mr Khoulamanla said.

'Assault planned'

Another rebel spokesman, Henchi Ordjo, told Reuters news agency that the rebel fighters were simply holding back an assault on the palace to allow the president the chance to leave.

"No ceasefire has been agreed," he said.


The African Union has charged Libya with overseeing the response to the rebellion in Chad, which was condemned at the end of the organisation's summit in Ethiopia.

There was heavy fighting throughout Saturday after thousands of rebels entered N'Djamena in the morning.

They began their advance on the city from near Chad's eastern border with Sudan earlier this week.

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

Troubled rule

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

In 2005, he changed the constitution so that he could run for a third term in office, which sparked mass desertions from the army.

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.

France 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.

Chadian officials have accused the rebels of seeking to stop the deployment of the EU force.

Both the Chadian and Sudanese governments support rebels in each others' territory.

watch out for more updates on chad

Stop Kenya burning, says AU head

African leaders at their summit in Ethiopia have been told they must get involved with the crisis in Kenya.
AU commission chairman Alpha Oumar Konare told them they could not just sit by. "If Kenya burns, there will be nothing for tomorrow," he said.

More than 850 people have died in political and ethnic clashes since last month's elections, which the opposition says were rigged.

In Nairobi, talks between government and opposition have begun.

Mr Konare - the AU's top executive - said it was the AU's duty to support the mediation process which is led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

'Special responsibility'

The current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Kenyan leaders to find a peaceful way out.

"President [Mwai] Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga... have a special responsibility to solve the crisis peacefully," he told the summit.

In Kenya itself, just as substantive peace talks began in Nairobi, tension rose in the Rift Valley town of Eldoret when a traffic policeman shot dead an opposition MP - the second to be killed this week.

Kenyan police say the killing was an act of revenge by a jealous boyfriend.

But shops closed as angry protestors marched through the town. Opposition leaders say the shooting was political.

Violence first broke out after the 27 December presidential elections, which the opposition Orange Democratic Movement says Mr Kibaki's government rigged.

Mr Kibaki is among more than 40 leaders present at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, even though the ODM called on the AU not to recognise him.

Mr Odinga, by contrast, has not been invited.

All eyes

The BBC's Will Ross, reporting from the conference, says all eyes will be on Mr Kibaki.

He says Mr Kibaki is likely to brief at least some of the African leaders on events in Kenya, especially the talks between government and opposition.

The Kenyan crisis may then be pushed away, which could be convenient for an organisation which often struggles to tackle the continent's problems with any great urgency, he says.

Despite Mr Konare's plea, the official theme of the AU summit is industrialisation.

But other subjects are likely to include


Sudan, where the AU and the UN have promised to create the world's largest peacekeeping force in Darfur
Somalia, where members are keen to strengthen the small Ugandan and Burundian forces in the country, and
the AU's own internal organisation
Our correspondent says many Africans hope other urgent issues such as Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo will also be tackled.

Kofi Annan Blasts Kenyans Authorities

Former UN head Kofi Annan has condemned "gross and systematic abuses of human rights" in Kenya, after a visit to violence-hit parts of the country.
Mr Annan said conflict may have been triggered by disputed elections, but it had evolved into "something else".

The facts had to be established and those responsible held to account, Mr Annan said on his return to Nairobi.

Dozens more deaths were reported on Saturday, with corpses bearing the marks of brutal violence.

Police brought 16 badly burnt bodies to the mortuary in Nakuru, the capital of Rift Valley province. Nine other bodies had been recovered the previous evening, reports said.

Some 15 bodies - covered in arrow wounds - were reported to have been recovered following fighting between rival communities in the district of Molo.

Mr Annan - in Kenya to mediate attempts for a political solution - was flown over Nakuru on Saturday as part of a tour that also included visits to Eldoret and Molo.



Hospital staff in Nakuru said they had received the bodies of nine more people, hacked by machetes or killed by arrows.

Earlier the authorities had imposed an overnight curfew across the city in the wake of renewed inter-ethnic conflict.

Rival gangs of young men battled with machetes, metal bars, bows and arrows, while thick smoke billowed up from burning buildings.

The violence came despite hopes of progress after President Mwai Kibaki met opposition leader Raila Odinga for the first time on Thursday since December's disputed polls.



Burnt forests

Mr Annan set off from Nairobi shortly after first light on Saturday to see for himself some of the destruction and human misery caused by more than three weeks of violence.



He visited some of the thousands of people in Eldoret whose homes have been destroyed or who moved to the town to try to find shelter.

The former UN chief also boarded a helicopter to fly to Molo district where many have been killed.

Speaking in the capital, Nairobi, Mr Annan said: "What we saw was rather tragic. We visited several IDP [internally displaced persons] camps, we saw people pushed from their homes, from their farms, grandmothers, children, families uprooted.

"And I think it is important that all Kenyans respond with sympathy and understanding, and not try to revenge."

He also said there needed to be fundamental changes to Kenya's institutions to prevent a repetition.

"We cannot accept that periodically, every five years or so, this sort of incident takes place and no-one is held to account. Impunity cannot be allowed to stand," Mr Annan added.

Tanzania's former President, Benjamin Mkapa, travelling with Mr Annan, said: "The political crisis in the country [has caused] a state of agony and despair. We console the people."

Barricade

There has been sporadic gunfire in Nakuru on Saturday.

The BBC's Adam Mynott says that some protesters erected a barricade across the main road and many homes have been burnt in the town.

Hundreds of people have sought refuge in churches or friends' homes.

There are also reports of truckloads of many young men being moved overnight to a village on the outskirts of the town.

The unrest triggered by the election on 27 December has driven 250,000 people from their homes. Mr Odinga says he was robbed of the presidency.