(Recasts with premier's peace offer, rebel comment)

By Moumine Ngarmbassa

N'DJAMENA, April 16 (Reuters) - Chadian President Idriss Deby on Wednesday named a new prime minister, who offered to negotiate peace with anti-government rebels fighting to end Deby's rule.

But the public offer by Youssouf Saleh Abbas, made shortly after his appointment by Deby, drew a sceptical reaction from one rebel representative, who questioned if the new premier had enough political clout to offer significant concessions.

Speaking to reporters, Abbas said he would seek reconciliation with eastern rebel groups which have been fighting for more than two years to overthrow Deby in the landlocked central African oil producer, a former French colony.

"I'll approach the armed opposition in all possible ways to try to reach out a hand to our brothers so we can find an acceptable compromise with them which will allow us to build our country," the new prime minister said. A trained diplomat, he had been working as Deby's adviser on international affairs.

A representative of Chadian rebel group the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), one of three rebel factions which attacked the Chadian capital N'Djamena in early February, reacted coolly to Abbas' statement.

"It's (President) Idriss Deby who decides everything. The prime minister has never had any kind of weight in Chad," Mansour Abbas, the UFDD representative in France, told Reuters.

Deby himself took power in an eastern revolt in 1990. He was re-elected for a third term in 2006 in polls boycotted by the opposition as unfair and has resisted rebel calls that he step down and allow fresh elections to appoint a successor.

The president, a French-trained pilot, has often accused eastern neighbour Sudan of arming Chadian rebels to carry out cross-border attacks into Chad, including the Feb. 2-3 assault on N'Djamena during which at least 700 people were killed.

Sudan denies the charges and has in turn accused Deby of supporting Sudanese anti-government rebels fighting in the war-torn Darfur region, which borders with Chad.

Deby and his Sudanese counterpart Omar Hassan al-Bashir signed a non-aggression pact in Senegal last month in which both pledged not to allow their territories to be used by rebels hostile to each other. But both have since accused each other of breaking the deal, the latest in a string of failed treaties.

EU FORCE DEPLOYED

Prime Minister Abbas was named in place of Nouradine Delwa Kassire Coumakoye, who had served since February 2007, when he took over from a previous head of government who died.

Before being named premier, Abbas had also acted as Deby's special liaison with a European Union military force that has deployed in Chad's east to protect civilians and refugees.

The EU force is tasked by the United Nations to provide security for humanitarian operations in eastern Chad, where more than half a million people, both Sudanese and Chadians, have fled violence spilling over from Sudan's Darfur region.

The appointment of a new prime minister was expected to lead to the formation of a new government shortly. It follows the renewal of dialogue between Deby and his political opponents grouped in a coalition calling itself the Coordination of Political Parties for the Defence of the Constitution (CPDC).

The CPDC wants Deby to seek peace with the eastern rebels, who have demanded that he launch a national dialogue involving both political opposition parties and armed insurgent groups.

"The solution lies in an all-inclusive dialogue," UFDD representative Mansour Abbas said.

The rebels say the dialogue should mark the start of a transition period leading to fresh, democratic elections. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/) (Writing by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Nick Tattersall)

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