Word: chadians
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...alleged 1988 deal to trade a jailed Arab terrorist for the release of three French hostages held in Lebanon. The French government denies making any deal to free the hostages beyond agreeing to restore diplomatic relations with Iran. At week's end an unknown group calling itself the Secret Chadian Resistance claimed responsibility, as part of a campaign to rid Africa of "all military colonial forces...
...ambassador's wife was among the passengers, and a Chadian Cabinet minister also was reported to be on board...
...French news agency Agence France-Presse, quoting unidentified sources, said Chadian Planning Minister Mahamat Soumahila was also aboard, bound for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund in Washington...
Only a week earlier the Libyans had managed to reverse a string of Chadian victories by retaking a key oasis town near the border. Angered by the setback at Maaten es Sarra, Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi last week ordered a retaliatory air strike on N'Djamena. But as two Soviet-built Tupolev-22 bombers approached the capital, French troops fired a U.S.-made Hawk antiaircraft missile. One of the jets exploded in a green phosphorescent fireball, and the other fled toward Libya. Two other Tupolevs later struck the town of Abeche, some 400 miles to the east, killing two civilians...
...Chad and has provided some $90 million in military aid this year to its former colony, the French have resisted being drawn deeper into the conflict. Defense Minister Andre Giraud expressed "deepest regrets" over the stepped-up fighting, though he declared that France will continue to defend the Chadian capital from attack. Premier Jacques Chirac last week repeated calls for a "negotiated solution" to the war. Though France supports Chadian President Hissene Habre's claim to the Aozou Strip, the Chirac government would prefer to have the issue settled by international arbitration. Chad's African neighbors take similar positions...