Al Qaida in Chad

Chad claims they captured Sudanese mecercenaries, Islamic Legion and al Qaida terrorists in last weeks fighting in the capital. I read somewhere that this was a Sudanese plot to destabilize Chad before a vote on the crisis in Darfur...I'll post it once I find it...if I find it.

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad's government on Wednesday displayed more than 100 prisoners it said were captured during a rebel assault on the capital this month, branding them Sudanese mercenaries, Islamic militants and members of al Qaeda.

The prisoners, many of them children, were packed into a tiny courtyard of N'Djamena's police headquarters which smelt of excrement.

....

Many appeared exhausted, seated barefoot on the concrete floor, while others stared blankly into the distance as journalists scrambled to film them.

"They are from the Islamic Legion, from al Qaeda, or purely and simply mercenaries," said Interior Minister Mahamat Ahmat Bachir, as he showed journalists an ammunition box filled with ID cards and documents he claimed belonged to the rebels.

Bachir said more than 40 percent of the 135 prisoners were Sudanese. Deby's government has accused Khartoum of supporting the rebel coalition in Chad in order to export Arab Islamic militancy westward across the Sahara.

"Even those who are Chadian are not really Chadian, they are mercenaries in the pay of Sudan," Bachir added. "They came to invade our country, they were sent by (Sudanese President) Omar al-Bashir to come and destabilize not only Chad, but all of Africa."