Long-running war in Chad ends

Press, 17 December 1980, Page 8

Long-running war in Chad ends

] NZPA-Reuter Paris a { Forces loyal to President ,Goukonui Oueddei have njtaken control of Chad’s capir'tal, Ndjamena, defeating the -'forces of the Defence Minis--■ter, (Hissene Habre), after a I'nine-month battle, , reports -{from French correspondents] have said. t{ The radio reports, from -(correspondents at Kousseiri tiin Cameroon, across .the fi Chari River from ’Ndjamena, ijquoted exhausted members i|of Mr Habre’s Northern Armed Forces as saying , fighting had stopped in the - city. *( ’■■■■’’ j French officials said the - situation in Ndjamena was still far from clear but one ■ official said privately that tjthe reports would probably “prove accurate. i] Informed sources in Paris! i(said Mr Habre had agreed to! i sign a cease-fire agreement.! (They said diplomatic pres-j “sure from African leaders] '■rather than military setbacks ijhad prompted Mr Habre to! ■ ■agree to sign a document he, :|had rejected just over a 1 fortnight ago. I

The survivors of Mr Habre’s forces said that Libyan tanks and other armoured vehicles had broken their lines, leading the way for the President’s forces. Last week-end France warned Libya against further I participation in the civil war* {that has raged in Chad practically since independence in 1960. Libya has denied taking part in the fighting.' Reliable sources in Can® roun, quoted by FrencK radio, said Mr Habre had sought refuge in the north* em Cameroon town <.6f Maroua. ' . There was no indicationjf his defeat meant he was being knocked out of Chad’s running civil strike in which at least II armed factions are taking part. .< • Mr Habre’s disappearance 'would leave two main local (forces, the President’s mainly Muslim northern troops and their uneasy allies of the units loyal to Vice-Presi-dent Abdelkader Wada! Kamougue who rules the Christian and animist south.