ICRC repatriates CAR prisoners from Chad

Ten soldiers from the Central African Republic (CAR), who had been in jail in Chad since August 2002, were repatriated on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said. In a statement issued in Geneva on Monday, ICRC said the 10 were flown from the Chadian capital, Ndjamena, to CAR. The statement did not say under what circumstances the CAR soldiers had been captured, or how many CAR prisoners remain in Chadian jails. Tension between CAR and Chad rose in 2001, with both countries accusing each other of backing cross-border incursions by dissidents. In August 2002, Chad accused the CAR army of attacking a border town, and skirmishes on either side of the border had continued since then. On March 15, the dissident former army chief of staff of CAR, Francois Bozize, seized power from president Ange-Felix Patasse and declared himself the new leader of CAR. The previous month, 82 mainly Chadian prisoners who were being held in CAR jails were released. They were suspected by the former Patasse government of infiltrating Bangui to help Bozize.