Chad bans opposition remembrance

Ibni Oumar Mohamat Saleh vanished after last year's rebel attack

Opposition politicians in Chad have condemned the banning of a meeting over a colleague's disappearance, following a rebel attack a year ago.

Ibni Oumar Mohamat Saleh vanished in the aftermath of the attempted coup in N'Djamena in February 2008.

His supporters say officials stopped them holding a remembrance service.

Amnesty International recently claimed Chad's armed forces conducted torture, abductions and arbitrary detentions following the rebel attack.

Chad's opposition CPDC (Co-ordination of Political Parties for the Defence of the Constitution) had originally hoped to march to N'Djamena's sports stadium on Tuesday, where they would have acknowledged that Mr Saleh was dead.

'Flawed'

They changed their plans to hold a private remembrance service instead, but permission was refused after negotiations with the authorities on Monday night.

An opposition politician told the BBC: "Unfortunately the interior ministry sent a letter saying all demonstrations linked to the disappearance of the opposition leader are banned on the ground that the judiciary is already looking to the cases.

"We believe this argument is flawed. It is one more restriction on our liberties and it cannot be accepted in a system that calls itself democratic.

"One cannot stop people from paying tribute or from remembering those who are missing."

The BBC's Celeste Hicks in N'Djamena says Mr Saleh has become a figurehead for many Chadian human rights activists.

A government-supported commission of inquiry into the events of February 2008 found there were more than 700 deaths, 32 rapes and $75m (