Chad: May 15, 2004

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The MDJT, a rebel group  (which is largely composed of men from the Toubou tribe) that has been fighting the Chad government since 1998, is the sole remaining rebel group in Chad. The founder of the MDJT, who used to be Defense Minister under the current president of Chad,  was killed by a land mine last year. The new MDJT leader made peace with the Chad government in late 2003. But a hard line wing of the party, continued to fight.  The MDJT resistance is currently fairly low key, with only a few major battles in the last six months. The Chad government is hoping that the withdrawal of Libyan support for MDJT will cause the rebels to make a deal with the government.

After decades of civil war, the central government has made peace with all the other rebel groups. Chad has dozens of major tribes, each speaking a different language or dialect. The last two decades has seen several episodes of civil war in Chad as various combinations of tribes tried to control the country. 

The Chad government cooperated with the United States in tracking down and destroying the GSPC group, and now expects to take the lead in any negotiations with the MDJT over the release of the GSPC prisoners. But the MDJT wants some benefit for turning over the GSPC captives, and the United States does not want to anger the Chad government by dealing directly with the MDJT.. 

It's possible that the US has sent commandoes and special operations intelligence forces into northern Chad to help the Chad government capture the MDJT fighters holding the GSPC men. Something has to be done, lest al Qaeda, which has long been associated with GSPC, raise a suitable ransom for the GSPC captives. At that point, the MDJT would simply announces that the GSPC men have "escaped." Something will have to happen soon, as those GSPC captives have long been involved in al Qaeda related terrorism and hold many secrets of what al Qaeda has been up to over the last few years. 

 

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