Chad rebel group FACT is willing to join national dialogue, says spokesman

A Chadian military-political rebel group behind this year's deadly insurgency said on Friday it was prepared to take part in a national dialogue proposed by transitional president Mahamat Idriss Deby. Deby seized power in April after his father, the former president, was killed while visiting troops fighting the rebels, who had crossed the border from Libya to take a stand against the elder's 30-year rule.

The Libya-based rebel group that claimed responsibility for Deby's death, known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), has now welcomed his son's offer to hold talks with all stakeholders, including opposition armed groups. "If there are peaceful initiatives to build a new democratic Chad without dictatorship and the absolute confiscation of power, of course we will join them," said FACT spokesman Kingabe Ogouzeimi de Tapol.

Deby's Transitional Military Council (CMT) has previously refused to negotiate with rebel groups, in particular members of FACT, which in April swept south from bases in Libya and reached within 300 km (186 miles) of the capital N'Djamena before being pushed back by the army.

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