Chad rebels say President Deby rejects dialogue

N'Djamena: Chadian rebels accused President Idriss Deby on Sunday of rejecting their calls for genuine dialogue. They said this left them with no choice but to maintain their military campaign to overthrow him.

"He has rejected dialogue," Ali Gadaye, spokesman for the rebel National Alliance told reporters by telephone, referring to a speech by Deby on Saturday in which he blamed neighbour Sudan for a series of rebel attacks launched since June 10.

At a pro-government rally in the Chadian capital, Deby called on his armed opponents, whom he said were "mercenaries ... manipulated by Sudan", to "come back to the fold".

But he offered no concessions to the rebels, whose mobile columns had struck at isolated lightly-defended towns in Chad's eastern borderlands, where a European Union force (EUFOR) is protecting nearly half a million Sudanese and Chadian refugees.

Asked if the rebel National Alliance would maintain its military campaign against Deby, Gadaye said: "If he gives us no other option, what can we do?".