The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union condemned late Thursday attacks by the rebel movements in Chad over the last two days as an "unacceptable" attempt to overthrow the government of President Idriss Deby through unconstitutional means. The PSC also strongly condemned "the incursion of armed elements into Sudanese refugee camps in Chad and other acts contrary to international humanitarian law." News reports, citing Chadian authorities, said the rebels were moving toward the capital on Wednesday. They said the French government, which supports President Idriss Deby, was considering sending more troops to strengthening its force of 1,200 troops already in Chad. The Chad government said earlier Thursday it had repulsed the rebel attacks on the capital N'djamena. The World Food Programme on Thursday said it had evacuated a total of 148 staff from Ndjamena to Yaounde in Cameroon. WFP and other UN agencies provide food to about 250,000 refugees in Chad, some of them from the Central African Republic and other countries. --SP 23 01 Local Time 20 01 GMT
