CHAD: Chad's president Idriss Deby yesterday broke diplomatic ties with neighbour Sudan, which he accused of trying to topple him, and warned that his country could stop sheltering thousands of Sudanese refugees.
One day after rebels battled the army in a surprise raid on the capital, the government paraded what it said were 160 captured rebels and 14 military vehicles at a rally in N'Djamena.
At the rally Mr Deby again accused the Sudanese government of backing rebels who have carried out attacks across Chad and portrayed his landlocked country as a victim of the political and ethnic conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, which has driven more than 200,000 refugees over the border.
"We have taken the decision to break our diplomatic relations with Sudan today and to proceed to close our frontiers," said Mr Deby.
Chad also threatened to halt its 160,000-170,000 barrels a day oil output through a pipeline operated by a US-led consortium unless the World Bank agrees to a deal to end a three-month dispute over use of oil revenues.
The World Bank suspended loans to Chad in January after its government changed a law regulating oil profits use.
Hours after Mr Deby's speech, Central African Republic, which lies south of Chad and Sudan, expressed solidarity with the Chad government by announcing it was closing its border with Sudan.
"We condemn the aggression against Chad," Central African Republic's foreign minister Jean Paul Ngoupande said.
Sudan's government denied it was helping anti-Deby rebels.
"Let me repeat that Sudan is not involved in these Chadian internal affairs. They have a revolt," said Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Jamal Ibrahim.
Next to Mr Deby as he spoke were the rebel prisoners and military vehicles. One Chadian general said 300 rebels were killed and about 400 captured in the fighting.
Complaining that "nobody listened to us", Mr Deby criticised the international community for being slow to react to the border crisis with Sudan, a spillover from the Darfur conflict where pro-Khartoum Arab militias battle other ethnic groups.
He said if the international community did not solve the Darfur crisis by June and guarantee security on the border, then his country would no longer shelter the Sudanese refugees.
"If after June we can't guarantee the security of our citizens and the refugees, then it is up to the international community to find another country for these refugees," he said.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR expressed its concern. "Chad has been very generous in accepting the refugees and working with us . . . We certainly hope that good co-operation will continue," said spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis.
Thursday's attack on N'Djamena was the boldest yet by rebels who have vowed to end Mr Deby's almost 16-year rule and block a May 3rd presidential election in which he is standing for re-election.
"There is no rebellion against Chad. It's the Sudanese government which is destabilising Chad," Mr Deby said. Rebel leaders vowed to continue their anti-Deby campaign.
One of the rebel prisoners displayed in N'Djamena, Mahamat Ali Mahamat, told reporters he was a Sudanese police officer of Chadian parents who had been offered 500,000 CFA francs (€760) to fight with the rebels.
Mr Deby's opponents denounce what they see as his autocratic and clan-based rule and accuse him of corruption. His grip on power has been weakened recently by a wave of army desertions.
The opposition is boycotting the May 3rd polls.