Word: djamena
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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When Idriss Deby and his rebel army rolled into the capital city of N'Djamena last week, the reaction of the 1,800-man French force stationed in the country was almost blase. As expected, the guerrilla leader quickly proclaimed himself President and promised to bring parliamentary democracy to his impoverished country...
...there was nothing predictable about the arrival two days later of several Soviet-built Libyan transport planes at N'Djamena's military airport. The planes had come to pick up about 400 Libyan prisoners released by Deby, some of whom had been jailed since 1982, and to unload "humanitarian supplies," including a Renault luxury sedan, apparently a gift to Deby from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Deby defended freeing the Libyans as a move to help maintain good relations with Chad's northern neighbor. However, the prisoner release, along with reports that Libya provided at least 40% of the equipment...
While the full scope of Deby's relationship with Gaddafi remains hazy, it is known that Libya equipped Deby's army with as many as 200 Toyota land cruisers fitted with 23-mm Soviet-made cannons. Deby's army arrived in N'Djamena with other equipment commonly stockpiled by Libya, including Brazilian-made six- wheel armored vehicles with 90-mm guns...