Rebellion Thwarted, Chad Reports

The government of Chad says it thwarted a rebellion against President Hissen Habre, and neighboring Sudan said the three leaders of the attempted coup escaped to Sudan.

Sudanese soldiers were disarming Chadian troops who had crossed the border, a Sudanese official said.

Chad identified the plotters as Hassan Djamous, commander in chief of the armed forces; Idriss Debi, his predecessor; and Interior Minister Ibrahim Mahamat Itno.

The government, in a communique released by the Chadian Embassy in Paris, said the coup leaders “entered into rebellion against the institutions of the republic” on the night of April 1-2.

The communique said the armed forces were “ordered to destroy” the plotters and “put an end to the rebellion by annihilation.”

Asked about the fate of the ringleaders, the Chadian Embassy would say only that the plot had been uncovered and its authors and accomplices rendered harmless.

Diplomatic sources in N’Djamena, capital of the African nation, said that Itno was arrested and that Djamous and Debi had disappeared.

Itno took a leading role in negotiations that led to the Habre government’s reconciliation with numerous political opponents who had been engaged in a long civil war with the government.

Habre has ruled Chad since 1982, when he ousted a Libyan-backed government led by Goukouni Oueddei.