Clearing rebels from potentially lucrative oilsites

Sudan is moving to clear rebels from potentially lucrative oilsites. Ansan Wikfs, a partner of Sudan-owned Sudapet, said last July they would begin seismic operations at Block 12A located in a remote area of northern Darfur. Sudapet, Ansan and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Qahtani Group are the joint-operators of Block 12A. It is understood that Chinese companies, which dominate the oil fields in Sudan's centre and south, now want to drill exploration wells in North Darfur but have been barred from starting work by the presence of the rebels. Chinese oil engineers have moved to the area, to join Saudi teams already licensed to search for new deposits. China is Sudan's largest crude customer, buying 60% of its oil. here

Attackers ambush UNAMID convoy

The attackers ambushed the UNAMID convoy at Um Hakibah in North Darfur State, southwest of the peacekeeping mission's headquarters in El Fasher, said the UNAMID official speaking on condition of anonymity. "One is confirmed dead and six are missing. The location of the incident is Um Hakibah, 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Shangil Tobayi," the official said. here

JEM rebels shoot down MiG in May

On May 10, 2008, the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) fighters mounted an assault on the Sudanese capital. During this action, a Sudanese Air Force MiG-29 was shot down by Darfur Justice and Equality Movement rebel forces with 12.7 mm and 14.5 mm heavy machine guns fire while it was attacking a convoy of vehicles in Khartoum suburb of Omdurman. The aircraft was piloted by a Russian mercenary. He was killed in action as his parachute did not open after ejecting. Regular Sudanese forces managed to repulse the attack and Sudan accused Chad of backing JEM in its attempt. [10] [11]

Marabout in Kouno Chad

Security forces in Chad killed 12 followers of a Muslim spiritual leader who was threatening to launch a holy war from a southern village in defence of the Islamic faith. Two members of the security forces were also killed and seven other people were wounded when government forces clashed on Sunday with hundreds of supporters of the "marabout" or holy man at Kouno, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of N'Djamena Reuters

la musique Chadienne

Within minutes, we heard explosions and heavy gunfire and black smoke rose above Goz Beida, a sandy town ringed by hills and camps housing tens of thousands of refugees.
In the morning, a kitchen worker was asked if the shooting had scared her. She just laughed.
“C’est la musique Chadienne” — It’s Chadian music, the local soundtrack by which people too often live their lives. here

The mobile rebel columns of armed pickups have raced through towns and struck at army posts in the eastern borderlands. But they have not attempted to repeat the headlong charge westwards to the capital N'Djamena that they made in February.
Former colonial ruler France, which in February clearly threw its political and military weight behind Deby when he resisted the rebel assault on N'Djamena, has taken a more ambiguous position towards the latest rebel moves. here

Columns of armed pick-up trucks

The rebels, whose columns of armed pick-up trucks have pushed westwards from the border with Sudan into eastern Chad here

Chad Rebels in Goz Beida, Am Dam and Biltine

French Mirage in Chad
Armed rebels have overrun three towns in the volatile east of the country and appear to be headed toward the capital, Ndjamena. Aid groups in eastern Chad reported that the rebels briefly occupied Goz Beida, Am Dam and Biltine, and that European Union peacekeeping troops had exchanged fire with them. Chad’s president, Idriss Déby, has accused Sudan of helping the rebels seeking to overthrow him. here

Chad rebels at Ade

Chad accused Sudan's army of attacking Ade on its eastern border and blamed Sudan for Chadian rebel raids which have disrupted international aid operations . Ade is a frontier post in Chad's eastern Ouaddai region where Chadian rebels have attacked several towns in the last few days in a series of fast-moving hit-and-run raids.

The rebels fighting to topple Chadian President Idriss Deby said they had captured another eastern town, Am-Zoer, 70 km (40 miles) north west of Abeche. Abeche is the main hub of international aid operations in eastern Chad.

Chad described the rebels as Sudanese-backed "mercenaries."

"The Chadian army's reaction will be on a level with the impudence of the Sudanese regime," Chad's government said.

Spokesmen for the Chadian rebel National Alliance have said their ultimate objective is the capital N'Djamena, some 700 km (450 miles) to the west. Meanwhile, the United States moved all non-emergency staff from its embassy in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena, to Cameroon. here

Rebels in Moudeina and Ade

The Chadian government said "mercenaries paid by Sudan" had entered Chad's territory. Two Russian-made Mi-35 Hind attack helicopters and a larger, armed Mi-17 transport helicopter had set off from Abeche, the main city in the east of Chad, to target rebels in the area of Moudeina and Ade. Chad has a total of six helicopters, flown by Algerians and Ukrainians. Three were dispatched to Abeche in early April; the others are believed to be in Ndjamena. Upon returning to Abeche, one of the helicopters made "a hard and forced landing" at the airport, about 500 metres (yards) from a camp where a European Union force charged with protecting Darfur refugees is situated. Irish members of an EU protection force in eastern Chad said a helicopter had made a crash landing after being damaged by anti-aircraft fire. here

Ft. Lamy, now N'Djamena
The first 71 Chadian police and gendarmerie commanders- who will form part of a new unit known as the Détachement Integré de Sécurité (DIS) - took part in a graduation ceremony today. The group received training from staff with the nascent UN mission in Chad and Central African Republic (MINURCAT) in law and order, respect for human rights, humanitarian law and other policing techniques. here

‘Epervier’ French Army in Chad

For three decades now, the French army has maintained a permanent military presence in its former colony with approximately one thousand troops. Chad became independent from France in 1960. France’s long-term mission is called ‘Epervier’, French for ‘Sparrowhawk’. It’s an operation that provides logistics, intelligence and medical support to Chad. It includes camps in N’Djamena and Abéché. Epervier started in 1986, helping contain a Libyan plan to invade the country.

“If we pull out, Chad will be cut up into pieces from all sides, even now,” said a senior French military official. here

The Sudan government claims that some 200 people died in and around Khartoum. Hardliners who never liked the CPA, and who still reject the concessions it gave the southern rebels of the SPLA, are in the driving seat and organising to crush the rebels. Hundreds of Darfurians have been arrested, all across the north of Sudan, for no better reason than they are Zaghawa, the tribe from which JEM's leadership is drawn.
here

Chad army helicopter fires rocket near Abeche

Three Chad army helicopters took off at 0530 (GMT) and 0545 from Abeche, in the Sudan border region. One fired rockets before returning to its base, the French source said. The three aircraft, a Mi-171 transport helicopter and two Mi-35 assault helicopters, were each equipped with rocket-launchers, having been moved from the capital Ndjamena to the border region.

A rebel column of 50-100 vehicles left Jebel Moun

A rebel column of 50-100 vehicles left JEM's stronghold in Jebel Moun, opposite Kounoungo, Chad, in West Darfur for the attack in Omdurman.

Chadian Army said to be at Ade on Sudan border

We will fight in Khartoum

JEM deputy chief of staff Suleiman Sandal said the movement had decided to abandon the fight in Darfur and take the battle to the capital.
"We will no longer fight in Darfur and the desert, we will fight in Khartoum," Sandal said, adding that he was speaking from Omdurman.

security forces were still searching for rebels

Sudan has reimposed an indefinite curfew on the western suburb of Omdurman two days after Darfur rebels attacked the capital.

"We have now reimposed the curfew in Omdurman -- it's not known until when," a ministry official said, security forces were still searching for rebels in the area.Police spokesperson told the Sudanese radio that the curfew is re-imposed because some rebels infiltrated some Omdurman neighborhoods.

The leader of Darfur rebels JEM ,Khalid Ibrahim, told the BBC radio and Reuters he was speaking from Omdurman.

JEM rebels in a suburb of Khartoum

Sudan Officer
JEM rebels in Khartoum, capital of Sudan
Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's failure to stop the rebels reaching Khartoum, his capital, is a blow to both the administration and the prestige of the army. JEM rebels fought Sudanese troops in a suburb of Khartoum. "These forces are Chadian forces originally, they moved from there led by Khalil Ibrahim who is an agent of the Chadian regime. It is a Chadian attack," al-Bashir said. Chadian President Idriss Deby was almost toppled in February by a rebel force that made a lightning attack across Chad from near the Sudanese border. He blamed Omar Hassan al-Bashir, but Sudan denied any involvement. Chad's former colonial power France swung behind Deby when he was attacked earlier this year and remains his main backer.

France has a big component in the European Union's Eufor force near Chad's border with Darfur, which is meant to protect refugees and aid workers.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, the French head of UN peacekeeping operations warned that a reported proxy war between Sudan and Chad through rebel groups on each side of their border threatened to destabilize the region and could lead to a wider conflict.
If the Khartoum government survives, it could mean more support for the Chadian rebels to make another push against Deby.
Regardless of whether the rebels succeed in overthrowing the government, the psychological importance of the attack is huge. Khartoum has been able to live isolated from violence for decades while the Arab-dominated central government's forces have battled rebels from the regions on the peripheries of the vast state.For the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels, it is a boost for their credibility at a time Darfur rebel movements are increasingly fractured.

Deby fell out of favour with France over drilling rights

Rebels failed in their last attempt to seize the capital in 2006. Their leaders include high-level officials who have defected to the rebel ranks in recent years. They accuse Deby of favouring his family and Zaghawa clan group in power. Déby has faced at least two coup attempts. Hissène Habré conquered the capital in 1982 and the Libyan occupation of the Aouzou Strip in the north ended when Qaddafi's forces were defeated in 1987 with the support of France and the USA.


In 1989, Idriss Déby, one of Habré's leading generals and a member of the Zaghawa tribe, defected and fled to Darfur in Sudan, from which he mounted a series of attacks on Habré (of the Gorane tribe). Idriss Deby came to power in 1990 after toppling Chadian President Hissene Habre - with the help of the French secret service. In December 1990, Déby’s forces successfully marched on N’Djamena with Libyan assistance and seized power. During the next few years, and government forces clashed violently with rebel forces. Finally, Déby won the country’s first two multi-party presidential elections in 1996 and in 2001.

Mr. Déby planned his insurgency while living in Darfur, just as Mr. Habré before him seized power from a base in Darfur.

Landlocked Chad became an oil exporter in 2003 with the completion of a $3.7 billion (1.88 billion pound) pipeline linking its oilfields to terminals on the Atlantic coast.

The Doba pipeline, operated by Exxon Mobil with partners Chevron Corp and Malaysia's state run Petronas, pumps around 160,000 barrels a day through Cameroon to the Gulf of Guinea.

Last September, Chad's national oil refiner signed a joint venture deal with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), parent of PetroChina and China's largest oil and gas producer.

PetroChina says it has found at least 100 million tonnes of oil at a new project in Chad.

China agreed to provide preferential loans to Chad and offer facilities for water and power supplies, the China Daily newspaper reported. here

Regionally Idriss Deby, a former French- trained helicopter pilot, has been increasingly viewed with mistrust, and he fell out of favour with Chad's former colonial master France over drilling rights in the 1990s. French Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Saturday France had a "neutral" military position in the conflict in Chad between the government and rebel troops, who have battled their way into the capital N'Djamena."We continue to remain neutral in this combat," Morin told France 3 television. "No ceasefire has been agreed," officials at France's Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry said.


Many rebels have ties to past regimes in Chad. The leaders of the Chadian rebels include Timane Erdimi, a former member of Deby's ruling clan, and Mahamat Nouri, a former defence minister. They say Deby favors his family, the Zaghawa clan group and friends. "Nobody is going to miss Deby, but these guys aren't exactly fighting for freedom and democracy," Brody told the Times.

In 1999, the Exxon Consortium (consisting of ExxonMobil, Petronas and ChevronTexaco) had to relinquish most of the acreage surrounding the Doba-Doseo basins area in the Republic of Chad. Initially, the consortium had plans to explore this vast concession.

In the same year, Cliveden Petroleum Chad was granted the entire Permit “H” area surrendered by Exxon and set up an office in N'Djamena. This concession includes the Doba, Doseo, Salamat and Bongor basins as well as Lake Chad and is 268,240 km2. It also includes the Erdis area of a further 171,000 km2 on the border with Libya. As a result of acquiring this concession, Cliveden Petroleum Chad became the only title-owner of the so-called Lake Chad, Chari and Erdis permits comprising a total of 439,240 km2. For comparison purposes, this concession is almost equal in size to the State of Texas or the size of France.


At the end of 2003, the Cliveden Petroleum Chad sold a 50% shareholding to two major Chinese organizations. The Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and CITIC each bought 25% of Cliveden Petroleum Chad. CNPC is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies. Its operations cover a broad spectrum of upstream and downstream activities, field operations and technical services, and equipment manufacturing and supply.
CNPC serves as China's largest producer and supplier of crude oil and natural gas, holding a dominant position in domestic petroleum production, processing, and marketing sectors. At the same time, CNPC is also a major producer and supplier of refined oil products and petrochemicals.

As one of the largest service suppliers in the global petroleum and petrochemical industries, CNPC can provide operational services and technical support in such areas as geophysical prospecting, well drilling, logging, well testing, down hole operations, oilfield surface facilities construction, pipeline construction, refining and petrochemical projects, and manufacturing and supply of petroleum equipment.


CITIC is a window on China's opening to the outside world. Since its inception, CITIC has always adhered to the principle of innovation. In line with government laws, regulations and policies, CITIC has attracted and utilized foreign capital, introduced advanced technologies, and adopted advanced and scientific international practice in operation and management. In the light of the law of economy, CITIC has made explorations in many business fields with remarkable success and has achieved good economic results. By doing so, CITIC has made significant contributions to the country's reform and opening up drive and established good reputation both domestically and abroad.