Chad orders gun clampdown, peace force calls mount
Source: Reuters
(Adds Chadian suggestion of international gendarme force) By Betel Miarom N'DJAMENA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Chad imposed a crackdown on illegal firearms on Tuesday as a state of emergency took effect to curb ethnic violence that has killed hundreds of people and fuelled calls to send international peacekeepers to the region. Chad's government imposed a state of emergency from midnight on Monday across large swathes of the central African country, including eastern zones where attacks on villages by armed raiders on horseback this month have killed hundreds. African Union chairman Denis Sassou Nguesso, president of nearby Congo Republic, joined a chorus of demands for a U.N. force to protect civilians in Chad and Central African Republic from violence spilling over from Sudan's Darfur region. "We agree with the idea of sending U.N. troops to ensure security on the borders of Chad and Central African Republic," he said in Paris after meeting French President Jacques Chirac. Jean-Marie Guehenno, the U.N. undersecretary-general in charge of peacekeeping, is to visit both countries next week. Sudan resolutely refuses a U.N. force in Darfur. Guehenno told the Security Council Chad's government had written saying it did not wish to be used as a rear base for "international intervention" in Darfur, even for a U.N. operation. The Nov. 7 letter suggested the United Nations could support Chad through deployment of an "international civilian force, composed of gendarmes (paramilitary police) from African countries selected by Chad, in order to secure refugee camps", Guehenno said, according to speaking notes obtained by Reuters. "SPIRALLING OUT OF CONTROL" The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said the inter-communal clashes in eastern Chad risked spiralling out of control and urged an international presence to protect civilians. The attacks follow the pattern of violence in Darfur where since 2003 Arab militia allied to government troops have targeted non-Arab tribes in their campaign against armed rebels. "We fear the inter-communal hostilities are spiralling out of control and could threaten the entire southeastern region of Chad," UNHCR said. It said at least 20 villages south of the eastern town of Goz Beida had been attacked since Nov. 4 by raiders -- almost always identified by victims as Arabs and often long-standing neighbours. "They are often well-armed, particularly with Kalashnikovs; on horseback, camelback or in trucks; sometimes in military attire, sometimes in civilian attire," UNHCR said. Since Nov. 7, some 5,000 newly displaced Chadians had converged on a site for internally displaced people in Habile, 45 km (28 miles) southeast of Goz Beida. That brought to around 68,000 the number of Chadians displaced by violence in the east over the year. More than 200,000 Sudanese refugees from Darfur also shelter in Chad. President Idriss Deby's government, already facing an armed insurgency he accuses neighbouring Sudan of backing, says repeated cross-border raids by Sudanese Arab militias known as Janjaweed are turning Chad's Arab and non-Arab communities against each other. Khartoum denies promoting the violence. The state of emergency gave regional governors wide-ranging powers to ensure security, including a ban on unauthorised firearms. Chad shares with Sudan a warrior tradition and a history of violent clan warfare and carrying arms is common. "Those illegally holding weapons of war, whoever they are, must immediately hand them over to the competent authorities. Those refusing will risk exemplary punishment," Prime Minister Pascal Yoadimnadji said in an address to the nation. (Additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau in Paris and Evelyn Leopold in New York)
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