Chad Government

Chad and Libya said today they had accepted a cease-fire in their war over a desert border area. The truce, sponsored by the Organization of African Unity, was to begin today. The Chad government said in a statement it accepted the cease-fire, and Libyan radio, monitored in Nicosia, Cyprus, said Tripoli would also observe it. The radio said Libya hoped the truce would "put an end to Chadian suffering and would help in finding a solution (o the conflict)under the aegis of the OAU."

N'DJAMENA, Chad -- Chad's president suspended the oil minister and two other Cabinet members who negotiated deals with two foreign oil companies that he ordered out of the country, alleging that they had failed to pay taxes, officials said Sunday. President Idriss Deby suspended the three ministers Saturday after telling San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corp.

Government forces shot down a Libyan warplane Monday over the town of Fada in northeastern Chad, the army said in a statement broadcast on government radio. It said the Soviet-made MIG-23 was downed at about 5 p.m., but it gave no details. Libyan planes have been making "blind bombardments of the civilian population" at Zouar in northwestern Chad, and the armed forces were "more determined than ever to deliver ever harsher blows to the savage Libyan horde," according to the statement.

Rebel leader Idriss Deby declared himself president of Chad and appointed a governing Council of State. Deby, who heads the Patriotic Salvation Movement, effectively seized power last weekend when President Hissen Habre fled to neighboring Cameroon. Deby immediately called for unity and promised freedom and justice to the Central African nation, which has been torn by conflict for more than 20 years.

N'DJAMENA, Chad -- Chad's president suspended the oil minister and two other Cabinet members who negotiated deals with two foreign oil companies that he ordered out of the country, alleging that they had failed to pay taxes, officials said Sunday. President Idriss Deby suspended the three ministers Saturday after telling San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corp.

Rebel leader Idriss Deby dissolved Chad's Parliament and suspended the constitution while promising a multi-party democracy, Chad Radio reported. Meanwhile, ousted President Hissen Habre, earlier reported killed, was said to be in Maroua, Cameroon.

Pope John Paul II, unfazed by the rigors of his hot and dusty journey through poorest Africa, pleaded here Tuesday for national reconciliation in a country inured to war and misery. Heavily armed soldiers in armored cars outnumbered roadside onlookers as the papal cavalcade swept into N'Djamena, the capital of a country that has suffered a generation of civil war and a decade of struggle with neighboring Libya since becoming independent from France in 1960.

Two graves containing the bodies of up to 100 Sudanese have been found in neighboring Chad after the collapse of Chad's government, a Sudan official said Friday.

Chadian rebels loyal to former President Goukouni Oueddei have agreed to a cease-fire with the government of President Hissen Habre, a spokesman for the rebel forces said. He said the accord was reached with the Chad government Oct. 24. It was unclear which factions of the Libyan-backed rebel coalition have accepted the agreement.

Libya has stopped jamming Arabic-language broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Corp., a spokesman for the BBC's External Services said. "The jamming appears to have stopped," he said of the interference traced to a site outside Tripoli. Libya began jamming the BBC's Arabic Service in April, when Libyan troops fighting Chad government forces began to suffer heavy defeats.

Pope John Paul II, unfazed by the rigors of his hot and dusty journey through poorest Africa, pleaded here Tuesday for national reconciliation in a country inured to war and misery. Heavily armed soldiers in armored cars outnumbered roadside onlookers as the papal cavalcade swept into N'Djamena, the capital of a country that has suffered a generation of civil war and a decade of struggle with neighboring Libya since becoming independent from France in 1960.

Chad and Libya said today they had accepted a cease-fire in their war over a desert border area. The truce, sponsored by the Organization of African Unity, was to begin today. The Chad government said in a statement it accepted the cease-fire, and Libyan radio, monitored in Nicosia, Cyprus, said Tripoli would also observe it. The radio said Libya hoped the truce would "put an end to Chadian suffering and would help in finding a solution (o the conflict)under the aegis of the OAU."

Government forces shot down a Libyan warplane Monday over the town of Fada in northeastern Chad, the army said in a statement broadcast on government radio. It said the Soviet-made MIG-23 was downed at about 5 p.m., but it gave no details. Libyan planes have been making "blind bombardments of the civilian population" at Zouar in northwestern Chad, and the armed forces were "more determined than ever to deliver ever harsher blows to the savage Libyan horde," according to the statement.

Chad's prime minister blamed the influx of about 300,000 refugees from Sudan's neighboring Darfur region for his country's worsening tensions with Sudan, and he demanded that the international community remove the people. Prime Minister Nouradin Koumakoye warned that if the refugees are not transferred elsewhere, Chad's government would expel them on its own. Koumakoye repeated charges that Sudan is fomenting violence in Chad because Darfur refugees are sheltering there . Chadian rebels attacked the capital this month before being driven off, but Sudan denies any involvement.