Chad: War by Proxy in the Dunes

The scene was Independence Square in N'Djamena, capital of the war-torn Central African state of Chad, and the crowd of 200,000 was the largest the city had ever seen. Facing the podium from the flatbed of a ten-wheel German truck were 21 Libyan prisoners of war, some of them wounded and all of them disheveled and frightened. For a moment a heavy silence hung over the square. Then, as a great roar rose from the crowd, hundreds of people ran toward the vehicle, throwing sticks and stones. The Libyans cowered to protect themselves against the onslaught, and their guards quickly drove...