Seven stories from today that update, most recently, last night's pair of SAPA/AFP stories (updated originally to reflect a newer version of the Reuters story on the source page; updated further both to reflect a much-longer version of the AFP story, and to add the one from VOA; updated still further to reflect a newer version of the VOA story):
From the BBC...
Sudan's government is arming rebels in Chad, the government has alleged after security was tightened in N'Djamena following rebel attacks.
Chad's foreign minister said the proof was the firing of a missile at a French reconnaissance plane in the east.
The rebels began their offensive in the east at the weekend but were then said to be near the central town of Mongo.
A BBC correspondent in N'Djamena says tanks are stationed in key areas, such as outside the presidential palace.
Troops have been recalled to base despite the Muslim holiday of Eid - the biggest festival of the year in Chad.
The BBC's Stephanie Hancock in Chad says the outskirts of the capital are said to have been heavily fortified with government troops.
But she says the latest reports of the rebels' location suggest they may have pulled back.
Rapid advance
"These rebels entered Chad from Sudan and they could only have procured this type of military equipment within the sight of and with the knowledge of the Sudanese authorities. Sudan cannot deny it," Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmar Allami told AFP news agency. [see below]
Khartoum denies backing the rebels, and in turn accuses Chad of backing rebels in the war-torn Darfur region.
Eastern Chad has a similar ethnic make-up to Darfur, where Arab militias are accused of carrying out a genocide against black Africans.
On Monday night, the rebels claimed to have seized the town of Am Timan, some 600km from N'Djamena but the government denied it had fallen and urged the capital's residents to stay calm.
"The government appeals to the population to remain calm and to go normally about one's business," said spokesman Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor.
On Sunday, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) rebel seized the small town of Gos Beida.
Our correspondent says there was also fierce fighting in the border town of Ade.
France
Our reporter says the role of the French army here will also be key to how the struggle for power plays out.
Back in April, when rebels managed to reach the heart of the capital in a four-day advance before being overpowered, the French received widespread criticism from Chadians for the way they staunchly supported President Idriss Deby.
The French army has also admitted that two days ago one of their surveillance planes narrowly avoided being shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by rebels.
While the French do still openly support the Chadian government, there are some questions over exactly how far they will go to prop up President Deby's regime - and how much they are willing to risk, our reporter says.
From the AP...
Chad accused neighboring Sudan of supporting rebels that have attacked three eastern towns in recent days, a claim likely to raise tensions only two months after the countries resumed diplomatic relations.
Foreign Minister Ahmat Allam-mi said the rebels entered Chad from Sudan's western Darfur region in a convoy of 60 to 80 military vehicles and attacked three towns since Sunday, briefly occupying one of them on Monday.
The rebels voluntarily left Am Timan later in the day, said government spokesman Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor. It wasn't immediately clear why the rebels left.
Allam-mi said he summoned Sudan's ambassador in the Chadian capital of N'Djamena to protest Sudan's alleged support for the rebels and Chad's ambassador to the African Union sent a letter of complaint to the body's Peace and Security Council.
``They are well equipped and well armed, even with surface-to-air missiles, which are from Sudanese military stocks,'' Allam-mi said. ``Another group of rebels in (Sudan's) Darfur is preparing to attack army positions in eastern Chad.''
Allam-mi said that the second group may attack the border town of Adre imminently. He did not say if the first group has retreated to its bases in Sudan.
Aid workers told The Associated Press on Monday that large numbers of army troops were heading east to intercept the rebels. The rebel force is believed to number less than those who launched a failed attack on the capital in April, the aid workers said on condition of anonymity because it related to security issues.
Following that attack, President Idriss Deby accused Sudan of supporting the Chadian rebels, which Sudan denied. He closed off the border and severed diplomatic ties. The two countries resumed their diplomatic ties and reopened their border in August, four months later.
Alpha Oumar Konare, the chairman of the African Union Commission, said in a statement late Tuesday that he was monitoring developments and in contact with diplomats to examine how best to address the situation. Konare said he was ``gravely concerned over the attack perpetrated against Chad by armed elements.''
Human rights groups have long warned the ongoing violence in Darfur could destabilize the entire region. More than 200,000 people are believed to have been killed and 2.5 million people displaced in a three-year conflict between Darfurian rebels and the government.
Chadian rebels, who include army deserters and some of Deby's relatives, have had sporadic clashes with the army since October 2005. Deby, who first took power at the head of his own rebel army in 1990, won elections in May that the main opposition parties boycotted because they claimed they had been rigged.
The competition for power in Chad has become more intense since the country began exporting oil in 2004.
From DPA...
The Chadian government stepped up security in the capital, Ndjamena, on Wednesday as rebels were said to be moving west towards the seat of government.
Troops and tanks were stationed at strategic positions throughout the capital, including outside the presidential palace, the BBC reported, after rebels briefly captured two eastern villages this week. [see above]
Government officials would not comment on the beefed-up security.
The Chadian Army said it had repelled the attack over the weekend on the village of Gos Beida near the border with Sudan while rebels said on Monday they had taken Am Timan, a village about 600 kilometres from Ndjamena.
Clashes between Arab militias and non-Arab civilians in eastern Chad have risen since earlier this month.
The ethnic make-up of eastern Chad is similar to that of Sudan's neighbouring Darfur region, where Arab rebels are accused of murdering tens of thousands of black Africans. Fighting from Darfur has spilled over the border to Chad in recent weeks.
Rebels staged two failed coups against the government of President Idriss Deby in April but both were put down by the military.
Chadian rebels are once again rearing their heads in the south-east of the country, but as security is stepped up in the capital, N'djamena, it is still unclear if the factions intend to try to overthrow the government. This week, the rebels said they had captured two villages - Gos Beida and Am Timan near the border with Darfur. The Chadian army was quick to announce they had repelled the incursions, but on Wednesday, there were reports that security in the capital was being bolstered by tanks and more soldiers.
"This resurgence is not liable to prove as strong as it was in the April coup attempt," Richard Cornwell of the South African-based Institute for Strategic Studies told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The rebel groups involved in the recent attacks have split from the United Front for Change (FUC), which attempted to bring down the government in April.
"The alliance hasn't translated into a cohesive, united rebel group," said David Mozersky, a regional analyst with the International Crisis Group.
The attempted coup on the government of President Idriss Deby in April came ahead of elections the following month that returned Deby to power after 15 years as leader.
The rebels stormed into Ndjamena with about 150 trucks mounted with machine guns, but the coup failed after the Chadian army successfully suppressed the rebellion.
The rebels' goal was to force some sort of political reform in the impoverished central African country, said Cromwell.
"They wanted to persuade the government that the time had come to negotiate and have genuinely open discussions about the country's political future."
After Deby's re-election, he organized talks with his political opponents but excluded the rebel groups.
"Deby only extended the talks to include domestic political opposition parties. There is still no channel for resolving this conflict other than fighting," Mozersky said.
The rebels may be entering these small villages near Darfur only to reassert themselves and remind Ndjamena of their presence.
"It's quite likely that what we are seeing is a way for the rebels to keep themselves on the scene. They may feel constrained to resume some sort of activity," Cornwell said.
The end of the rainy season in eastern Chad also means the rebels have regained mobility, he noted.
On Wednesday, the Chadian government accused Sudan of arming the militias, a charge it has made in the past but one that Khartoum denies.
Sudan, on the other hand, accuses Deby's government of arming the rebels in the embattled Darfur region, and in turn fuelling a conflict that has killed tens of thousands.
And while both conflicts have their own domestic origins - Darfuri rebels claiming their home region remains underdeveloped and Chadian militants opposing Deby's dictatorship - analysts say the region's violence is completely interrelated.
"The Chadian rebels are a proxy of Khartoum just as Darfuri rebels are at a certain level a proxy of N'djamena," Mozersky said.
Deby, himself a former rebel leader, deposed his predecessor Hissene Habre in 1990. Like the FUC rebels who vow to overthrow him, the president based his own rebel movement in Darfur and enjoyed backing from Khartoum.
But no matter what the rebels' next move, Deby appears to be gearing up for a fresh attack. Following the coup attempt in April, to the World Bank's dismay, Deby's government spent millions of dollars of its oil revenue on helicopters it said was necessary to combat the insurgency.
From AFP, reprinted on Sudan Tribune...
Chad has accused Sudan of supporting Chadian rebels who have resumed military operations in the east of the country, citing as proof the firing of a ground-to-air missile at a French military plane.
"These rebels entered Chad from Sudan and they could only have procured this type of military equipment within the sight of and with the knowledge of the Sudanese authorities. Sudan cannot deny it," Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmat Allami said.
"Sudan is behind the rebels. This (missile) firing constitutes an unfriendly gesture against Chad and France, and which we firmly condemn," he said.
"There is no mystery. This equipment was delivered under the benevolent gaze of the Sudanese authorities or by Sudan itself."
Chadian rebels from the recently formed Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) on Monday captured the town of Am Timan and briefly seized the town of Goz Beida near the Sudanese border on Sunday.
The rebels have also admitted firing a ground-to-air missile at a French reconnaissance plane, which was not hit.
The attack "is a blow against the normalisation between our two countries", Allami said. "We will summon the Sudanese ambassador to Chad to seek an explanation."
"We will support dialogue with Sudan to overcome the problems," he said. "In our accords there exist mechanisms for dialogue such as the political committee, which we will call to a meeting."
Chad and Sudan normalised relations on August 8, agreeing to reopen their common border and respective embassies after several months of tensions.
Chad has accused Sudan of arming rebels who tried to overthrow President Idriss Deby while Khartoum has repeatedly alleged that N’Djamena backed Darfur rebel groups fighting the Sudanese government.
The latest attacks represent a resurgence in violence between rebels hostile to French-backed Deby and the army after a period of relative calm attributed to the rainy season in the central African nation.
The rebels are thought to be within several hours of the capital, N’Djamena, where heavily armed troops were being deployed around public buildings and along main roads.
The army said on Tuesday it was also sending tanks and helicopters to Am Timan to prevent a repeat attack.
Rebel leader General Mahamat Nouri said on Tuesday that his forces had no intention of seizing control of towns and insisted they would not attack N’Djamena.
"What interests us is not taking towns, it is destroying enemy forces," he said.
Nouri initially denied any involvement in the attack on the French plane but then admitted it had been targeted because his men mistakenly thought it was attacking them.
"The guys thought the plane had fired, so they fired," he said.
Although the aircraft was not endangered by the missile, the French army was treating it as hostile fire since no other aircraft was in the area at the time, French Major Cristophe Prazuck said in Paris.
Rebels seeking to oust President Deby launched an offensive in April before being pushed back from the capital by the army.
(An earlier version is also still available on AlertNet.)
Chad said on Wednesday it had pushed back a rebel convoy which attacked two towns in the country's remote southeast and accused neighbouring Sudan of backing the insurgency.
Chad's Foreign Minister Ahmat Allam-Mi summoned Sudan's ambassador to demand an explanation after the rebels briefly seized Goz Beida near the Sudan border on Sunday then attacked Am Timan further west as they moved deeper into the country.
"Having signed agreements to normalise our relations, we cannot understand how Sudan can send over motorised rebel columns with sophisticated weaponry," Allam-Mi said.
"We favour dialogue. We can still meet to resolve this problem," he said, but added: "Chad will protect itself against any acts or low blows that Sudan deals us."
Chad's government said army reinforcements had been sent to the region around Am Timan but that the rebels had withdrawn without putting up a fight. Communication Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor said Am Timan was now under government control.
Fighting in Sudan's Darfur region, which has killed tens of thousands of people since 2003 and displaced more than two million, has often spilled over into arid, oil-producing Chad.
President Idriss Deby has repeatedly accused Khartoum of backing the rebels, saying Sudan's Arab government was trying to export its "fundamentalist system" to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. Sudan denies the charge.
"There is absolutely no support from the government of Sudan to any rebels," a Sudanese army spokesman said, but noted the border between the two countries was porous.
"It is entirely possible that rebels can enter the border and attack from Sudan as rebels enter and attack the Sudanese armed forces from Chadian territories," he said.
"CAT AND MOUSE"
The army bolstered security in N'Djamena on Tuesday as the rebels appeared to be advancing across the mostly desert country. But the dusty city was calm on Wednesday, with a lone tank guarding the presidential palace.
The attacks recalled a lightning assault on N'Djamena in April, launched from the east by rebels who raced across the desert in pick-up trucks from the Sudan border. Several hundred people were killed in the capital before the army took control.
A leader of the rebel coalition, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), said late on Tuesday its fighters would not advance immediately from the area around Am Timan, some 600 km (370 miles) east of N'Djamena.
Diplomats and government officials said the rebels appeared to be playing a game of cat and mouse, as they did in April, launching small-scale strikes on poorly fortified towns in the former French colony in order to disorientate the armed forces.
"This rebel column has been reluctant to engage the security forces, instead infiltrating a locality then pulling back so as to make the local and international community believe they occupy territory inside the country," Doumgor said.
He said the rebels were using sophisticated weaponry, pointing to a ground-to-air missile fired at a French military reconnaissance plane on Monday, which missed after the aircraft took "precautionary measures".
Chad is formally accusing neighboring Sudan of backing the rebels behind Sunday's incursions in three eastern villages. In the capital, N'Djamena, tanks and troops have been deployed to defend the city.
Chad's foreign minister, Ahmat Allam-mi, says a failed surface-to-air missile attack by the rebels on a French reconnaissance plane Monday is proof Khartoum is providing arms to rebels in Chad's east.
The rebel coalition Union of Forces for Democracy and Development denies it has received arms from Sudan. It says it took the so-called Redeye missile from government army stocks. Many of the rebels are high-ranking Chadian army defectors.
Rebels say they are massing 600 kilometers east of the capital, N'Djamena. Local sources say troops and tanks have been deployed in the capital to defend the city.
Local journalist Evariste Ngaralbaye says tanks are guarding the city's eastern edge and troops have been seen criss-crossing the city. Ngaralbaye says the scene is reminiscent of last April when rebels reached the outskirts of the capital.
Chad and Sudan signed a peace agreement four months ago and the two countries restored diplomatic relations. Both governments have long traded accusations that each country supports rebel movements in the other.
The Sudanese have claimed Chad is backing rebels in the Darfur-region. N'Djamena, in turn, charges that Sudanese-backed Janjaweed militias, accused of atrocities in Darfur, have crossed the border to attack villages and support rebel opponents of Chadian President Idriss Deby. Sudan has denied this.
Mr. Deby came to power in a coup 16 years ago. Opposition groups boycotted elections last April, just after the rebel assault on the capital.
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