Rebels battle inside Chad's capital

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Rebels with a column of 300 vehicles have closed in on the capital of the central African oil producing country in their most determined offensive in two years. They fought confused battles with Deby's troops on Friday northeast of the city.

"Rebels are headed for the palace and are about two blocks from here. The rebels are winning," the resident said in an email sent from the compound of a western embassy in N'Djamena, adding she could hear heavy weapons fire.

The French and U.S. embassies were preparing their nationals for evacuation.

France's diplomatic mission instructed its citizens to assemble at three designated sites in the capital. France on Friday reinforced its military contingent stationed in its former colony, which has a population of around 10 million.

The U.S. embassy asked those American nationals who wanted to be evacuated to come to the embassy immediately.

Chad says the rebels, who advanced rapidly this week across the country from the eastern border with Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, are armed and backed by the Sudanese government. Khartoum routinely denies such accusations.

Deby himself seized power in a revolt from the east in 1990. He won elections in 1996, 2001 and 2006. Government forces repelled a rebel attack on the capital in 2006, when hundreds of people are thought to have been killed.

PEACEKEEPERS DELAYED

In Addis Ababa, where African leaders have been meeting, the African Union expressed its concern over the escalation of the fighting in Chad, which has delayed the imminent deployment of European Union peacekeepers bound for eastern Chad.

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