Chadian president, French minister due in Bangui on Saturday

President Idriss Deby of Chad was expected to arrive on Saturday in Bangui, capital of the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR), CAR Foreign Minister Martial Beti Marace announced on government-controlled Radio Centrafrique on Friday. "On behalf of the president of the republic... I formally announce two essential events: these are the official and friendly visit that Chadian President Idriss Deby will be paying to our country this coming Saturday... and the official visit of the French minister in charge of cooperation Mr [Pierre-Andre] Wiltzer, this same Saturday 15 February in the CAR," said Marace. He invited the people to mobilise for the success of these visits, which would contribute, on the one hand, to the normalisation of relations between Chad and CAR, and on the other hand to the reinforcement of cooperation between CAR and France. Deby's visit follows one that CAR President Ange-Felix Patasse paid him in February 2002, in an effort to ease tensions between the two countries. Relations between CAR and Chad have been tense since the flight of Gen Francois Bozize, the CAR army's former chief of staff, to Chad in November 2001. Since then, Bangui has accused Chad of backing Bozize and his supporters in their cross-border attacks and later in the open rebellion that broke out in October 2002. For its part, Ndjamena has accused Bangui of supporting a former Chadian rebel leader, Col Abdoulaye Miskine, who, it believed, had raided southern Chad localities. Hundreds of thousands of Chadians have been living in the CAR for generations and many of them have become CAR citizens. Analysts perceive Deby's visit to CAR as a good sign for the normalisation of bilateral relations. Furthermore, the coincidence of Deby's visit with that of Wiltzer is perceived as signalling France's wish to reconcile its two former colonies. In his New Year address, Patasse had asked France to be militarily present in the CAR to help restore the country's integrity. France has not yet reacted to that request.