Chad rebels intend to free U.S. missionary

DAKAR - Chadian rebels holding hostage a U.S. missionary said on Wednesday they suspected he was a Chadian government spy but intended to free him soon.

The missionary, identified by local evangelical church colleagues as Steve Godbold, was seized in the northern Tibesti mountains near the Libyan border more than a week ago by the rebel Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT).

"He entered our territory without authorisation. He was contacted by the regime in (the Chadian capital) N'Djamena to find out information ... and to create divisions within our movement," MDJT leader Aboubakar Choua Dazi told Reuters.

"Our group took him to find out why he has come ... In two or three days we will conclude and then we'll see what preparations we can make to free him," Choua Dazi said by phone from southern Libya. Godbold is being well treated, he said.

U.S. officials have said Godbold was working as a sub-contractor on a U.S. government-financed development project to drill water wells in the Tibesti region.

In 2005, the MDJT captured Amar Saifi, then the second most powerful man in Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda and is classed by Washington as a terrorist organisation.

The GSPC renamed itself Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb in January and carried out several suicide bombings.


GSPC MEMBERS STILL CAPTIVE

Believed to have a wealth of information on Islamist activities, Saifi was handed to Libya after protracted negotiations before being taken into custody in Algeria.

Choua Dazi said the MDJT was still holding two other GSPC figures, an Algerian who was Saifi's deputy and a Malian, both captured with Saifi after fleeing neighbouring countries.

"Because they are Africans, we would prefer to release them back to their home countries than anywhere else," he said.

"But our position has always been clear. If the United States shows interest in contacting us, we are ready. But until now we have had no direct contact, just through intermediaries."

U.S. security officials fear the GSPC has been using the Sahara to host mobile training camps.

France's top anti-terrorism investigator said in June he was concerned the group might try to extend its network into France, Spain and Italy, which have large North African communities.

Italian, British and Spanish police have arrested suspected GSPC members this year.

Choua Dazi said Godbold had been allowed to speak with his family and with U.S. officials.

Chad's government, also facing a threat from various rebel groups on its eastern border with Sudan's Darfur region, has said negotiations are underway to secure Godbold's release.