Chad denies rebels airport claim

The rebels want to oust Mr Deby's government

The government of Chad has denied claims by the main rebel group to have captured the airport at the northern town of Bardai.

The rebel Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJT) said earlier its forces had taken the airport, surrounded the town and killed at least 35 government troops.

But a government spokesman told the French news agency, AFP, that Bardai remained entirely under government control and that the airport had never been in rebel hands.

The MDJT rebels have been fighting in northern Chad since 1998 to depose President Idriss Deby, who they accuse of corruption, despite a peace deal signed in January 2002 between the two warring sides.

Integration

Early this year, the government signed a peace deal with another main rebel group, the National Resistance Army (ANR), which was active in eastern Chad, near the border with Sudan and the Central African Republic.

The peace accord included the integration into the national army of former rebels, who were also given an option of returning to civilian life.

The MDJT rebel group was founded by former Defence Minister, Joussouf Togoimi, who was injured in an explosion a year ago.

He was taken to Libya where he was reported to have died.

Mr Togoimi's apparent death deepened a division in the movement with some of the rebels insisting on continuing their armed campaign to oust President Idriss Deby.

The Chadian conflict has claimed several thousand lives since 1998.