When Idriss Deby and his rebel army rolled into the capital city of N'Djamena last week, the reaction of the 1,800-man French force stationed in the country was almost blase. As expected, the guerrilla leader quickly proclaimed himself President and promised to bring parliamentary democracy to his impoverished country.
But there was nothing predictable about the arrival two days later of several Soviet-built Libyan transport planes at N'Djamena's military airport. The planes had come to pick up about 400 Libyan prisoners released by Deby, some of whom had been jailed since 1982, and to unload "humanitarian supplies," including a Renault luxury...
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