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Chad: The rebel group Armed Forces for the Federal Republic (FARF); its ethnic group composition and the ethnic groups it is opposed to; and whether its aircraft and needs pilots

The Armed Forces for the Federal Republic (FARF) is a southern-based political  organisation (Le Monde 23 May 1998). The FARF advocates a federal state in the south of the country, which would enable it to break the mostly Muslim northern hegemony which has controlled the country since 1981  (ibid., Xinhua 22 May 1998).

On 6 May 1998, the government reportedly signed a peace agreement with FARF in Donia (Africa Research Bulletin July 1998, 13152),  which "provides for the termination of hostilities in Eastern and Western Logone, the amnesty of FARF rebels and their integration with the regular armed forces," (TASS 9 May 1998). The agreement  reportedly follows an earlier agreement signed on 17 April 1997, which did not last long  as there was renewed fighting between government forces and the FARF  on 30 October 1997, in Moundou which left approximately 100 dead  (ibid., AFP 18 Apr. 1997; Africa Research Bulletin Dec. 1997, 12937).

Although the leader of FARF, Laokein Barde, is reported to have disappeared during the negotiations and his whereabouts remain unknown  (Libreville Africa No. 1., 30 May 1998), 300 FARF soldiers entered Ndjamena in order to be integrated into the national armed as stipulated by the 6 May 1998 agreement (Africa Research Bulletin July 998, 13152),

A professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who specializes in Chad, and co-author of Chad: A Nation in Search of its Future, stated that members of FARF who did not agree with the May 1998 agreement have gone underground (1 Sept. 1998). He further stated that FARF comprises several southern ethnic groups of which the Kanembu are the majority. The FARF is opposed to the government of President Idriss Deby  who is from the predominantly northern Zakhawa clan (Africa Confidential 10 May 1996, 5). 

Information on whether the FARF needs pilots to join the group could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Reference

Africa Confidential [London]. 10 May 1996. Vol. 37. No. 10. "Chad: Debts to Deby."

Agence France Presse (AFP). 18 April  1998. "Signature d'un accord de paix entre le gouvernement et les FARF."

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series [Oxford]. July 1998. Vol. 35. No. 6. "Chad: Deputy Arrested."

_____. December 1997. "Chad: Renewed Tension in the South."

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1997. 1997. United States Department of State: Washington, DC: United States Printing Office.

Libreville Africa No. 1. 30 May 1998. "Chad: Opposition Groups Want Chadian government Isolated." (FBIS-AFR-98-152 1 June 1998/WNC)

Le Monde [Paris]. 23 May 1998. " Au Tchad, les rebelles du Sud rendent les armes; Le gouvernement d'Idriss Deby devrait pouvoir exploiter les gisements petroliers de la region meridionale. Les habitants reprochent à l'armée françaises d'avoir poursuivi sa cooperation avec les soldats tchadiennes durant les troubles." (NEXIS)

Professor of Political Science specialising in Chad, University of North Carolina, Charlotte. 1 September 1998. Telephone interview with Research Directorate.

Tass. Grigory Potapov. "Chad Government Signs Peace Agreement with Rebels." (NEXIS)

Xinhua News Agency. 22 May 1998. "Chadian Southern Rebels Surrender to Gov't Forces." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Jane's Intelligence Review [Surrey, UK]. January -August 1998. Vol. 10. Nos. 1-8.

_____. January - December 1997. Vol. 9. Nos. 1-12.

West Africa [London]. January - June 1998. Nos. 4180-4190.

Topics: Ethnic persecution, Ethnic discrimination, Militias,