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RHEFDHP/DIA DHP-1 WASHINGTON DC
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FEST TWO 000001 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF CASC SU CD
SUBJECT: NDJAMENA 001: AN EERIE NORMALCY RETURNS 
 
¶1.  Summary:  Life is slowly returning to what passes for normal 
in N'Djamena as Chadian citizens emerge from hiding or flight to 
view the newest scars on this historically war-torn city.  The 
U.S. Embassy transferred operations from a temporary site at the 
French base to the Chancery and other facilities on February 13. 
 The Emergency Action Committee (EAC) met February 16 and 
confirmed the Embassy's current security posture.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  The U.S. Embassy in N'Djamena, Chad marked the transfer of 
operations from a temporary site at the French base to the 
Chancery on February 13 with a small flag-raising ceremony. The 
Embassy is on Ordered Departure; twenty one staff members 
(including a six-man Marine Guard Detachment) are on the ground. 
 The Consular Section is open for American Citizen Services 
only; visa applicants are being directed to Paris or Yaounde. 
No lives were lost or injuries reported  among Embassy American 
or Locally Engaged Staff (LES).  The first order of business is 
to survey damaged property (full report septel).  At least four 
Embassy residences were looted and vandalized and are 
uninhabitable.  The Chancery and the Ambassador's residence 
sustained limited machine gun, mortar and RPG damage. Until 
classified systems are up and running, all classified 
communications will be via EACT (cable address: USDEL FEST TWO). 
 
¶3.  Elsewhere in the city, a brisk clean-up has removed much of 
the debris from the heavy fighting of February 2-3.  All dead 
bodies have been picked up.  Nonetheless, the signs of war are 
still very evident.  Burnt and overturned vehicles line the 
streets.  Almost every window of the landmark Central African 
Bank's multi-story glass-fronted building was damaged.  Numerous 
buildings along the main commercial street, Rue Charles de 
Gaulle, show signs of bombardment and are scorched by fire.  The 
trees which formerly graced the street lie toppled.  Many 
Chadian government offices were sacked, including the Ministries 
of Health, Education and Foreign Affairs.  A visit to the MFA 
showed room after room of devastation -- papers tossed to the 
four winds, office equipment such as air conditioners and 
computers deliberately vandalized and left unusable.  Reportedly 
even the Minister of Foreign Affairs' arm chair was stolen. 
International organizations such as UNICEF and CARE were also 
looted.  The French Cultural Center was completely destroyed - 
a major loss to Chad's cultural patrimony.  Looting appears to 
be the work of local residents; no claims of rebel looting have 
been made. 
 
¶4. According to the French Ambassador, French forces in Chad 
evacuated 1,800 citizens belonging to 66 different 
nationalities.  The French Embassy (which also sustained damage 
during the fighting) did not oblige employees or family members 
to depart, but in the event, almost all family members requested 
to leave. The French School is scheduled to re-open on March 10 
after an extended mid-winter break.  Enrollment is expected to 
drop considerably, as many French children (including the son of 
the Ambassador) will not return. 
 
¶5.  The Government declared a 15 day State of Emergency for the 
entire country on Thursday, February 13.  A 12:30 am -06:00 a.m. 
curfew is in place.   The main news sources -- Radio France 
International and BBC World Service  -- can only be picked up on 
short wave.  Some local radio stations are broadcasting.  Air 
France has resumed limited service.  Humanitarian air flights 
servicing the refugee camps in eastern Chad continue, but are 
being staged from Yaounde rather than N'Djamena. 
 
¶6.  Chadians - including many LES family members - are trickling 
back from Kousseri, Cameroon, which, lying a short distance from 
N'Djamena, across a bridge over the Chari River, was the 
location of choice for evacuation (although many simply hunkered 
down in their residences).  Remarkably, casualties were 
relatively low. According to Thomas Merkelbach, International 
Red Cross (ICRC) Director, the death tally is probably about 
500, with 120 picked up in the streets, and the remainder 
disposed of either by the Chadian Army (ANT) or the rebels.  Of 
those bodies picked up in town, about two thirds were combatants 
- the remainder civilians, of which many were probably looters 
shot by the ANT.   Merkelbach thought that wounded probably 
numbered 1,000.  He said that there were some 120 prisoners and 
 
FEST TWO 00000001  002 OF 002 
 
 
that the ICRC had been allowed full visitation rights. 
 
¶7. Embassy security posture:  The Emergency Action Committee 
(EAC) met February 16 and confirmed the Embassy's current 
security posture. A curfew of 7:00 pm - 6:00 am is in effect for 
Embassy staff.  Travel through the city is limited to official 
business, in convoy where possible, and should be notified by 
radio to Post One. 
NIGRO