Chad accuses Sudan of attack

ABECHE, Chad (Reuters) - Chad accused Sudan's army ofattacking a town on its eastern border on Tuesday and blamedits neighbour for Chadian rebel raids which have disruptedinternational aid operations to help thousands of refugees.

Sudan's military denied the accusation, which again showedtensions flaring between the two oil-producing African statesover their common border that runs along the violence-tornwestern Sudanese region of Darfur.

Rebels fighting to overthrow Chadian President Idriss Debysaid they had pushed back a government counterattack around thetown of Am-Zoer, 70 km (40 miles) north west of Abeche, themain hub of international aid operations in eastern Chad.

The anti-Deby rebel National Alliance said earlier Am-Zoerhad fallen to its fighters on Tuesday, the latest in a seriesof hit-and-run attacks by fast-moving rebel columns of vehiclesracing though the bush of east Chad's rugged borderlands.

The recent fighting has forced the United Nations refugeeagency UNHCR to suspend its activities in eastern Chad, where aEuropean Union military force (EUFOR) is deployed to protectnearly half a million civilians displaced by conflict.

A statement from Chad's government said Sudanese armyground troops supported by helicopters attacked the Chadianmilitary garrison at Ade on their border on Tuesday.

"By openly intervening with its army and aircraft inChadian territory, Khartoum is taking off the mask from itsaggression against our country," the Chadian government said.

In Khartoum, a Sudanese army spokesman said the accusationhad "no basis in truth". "This is a knee-jerk accusation by theChadian government repeated each time they are attacked by theChadian opposition groups," he told Reuters.

Last month, Sudan said Chad was behind a Darfuri rebelattack that reached the outskirts of Khartoum. Chad deniedthat.

There was no immediate clear independent confirmation ofthe action at Ade, a frontier post in Chad's eastern Ouaddairegion.

But aid agencies based at Abeche said they had heardreports of fighting between Am-Zoer and Guereda north ofAbeche, thought to be between rebels and government forcesincluding Darfuri irregulars who support Chad's President Deby.

EU DEFENDS ROLE IN CHAD

The anti-Deby rebels say their ultimate objective is theChadian capital N'Djamena, some 700 km (450 miles) to the west.

But in contrast to a major insurgent assault on the city inFebruary, in which several hundred people were killed, thereare fewer signs this time of a concerted rebel push to thecapital.

Chad's latest accusation against Sudan followed a speech byPresident Deby late on Monday in which he denounced what hesaid was an "international plot" seeking to plunge his countryback into civil war.

Both the United Nations Security Council and the AfricanUnion have condemned the attacks by the Chadian rebels. U.N.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for dialogue.

Furious at the apparent ease of the rebel advance, Debylate on Monday sharply criticised the European Union militaryforce deployed in eastern Chad, accusing it of "closing itseyes" to killings of civilians and refugees by the insurgents.

Deby questioned the use of the EUFOR contingent, which hasa mandate to protect nearly half a million Sudanese refugeesand displaced Chadian civilians sheltering at camps in theeast.

Speaking in Paris, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solanadefended EUFOR, saying it was abiding by its neutral mandate.

"I can tell you EUFOR is doing a fantastic job there,"Solana told reporters, adding that Deby had made the criticism"in a difficult time".

In February, former colonial ruler France strongly backedDeby when he resisted the rebel assault then on the capitalN'Djamena. Deby has ruled Chad, a minor oil producer, sinceseizing power in a 1990 revolt.

During a weekend visit to Ivory Coast, French ForeignMinister Bernard Kouchner said France "has not intervened andwill not intervene" in the latest fighting in Chad.

France has warplanes and troops in Chad under a cooperationaccord and French soldiers make up more than half of EUFOR.

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(Additional reporting by Moumine Ngarmbassa in N'Djamena,Opheera McDoom in Khartoum and Brian Rohan in Paris; Writing byPascal Fletcher)