Brussels, 12/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - After denouncing, on 1 February, the attempt by a rebel alliance in Chad to seize power, Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel expressed concern about the fact that members of the Chad opposition had been arrested. In a press release published on 11 February, Mr Michel declared he was “deeply concerned by the arrests which are detrimental to the climate of trust and constructive collaboration that the Chadian political parties and politicians managed to establish during the first phases of implementation of the political agreement of 13 August 2007”. This agreement provides for free and transparent legislative elections to be held in 2009 (see EUROPE 9484). Mr Michel went on to say that, as a facilitator of the agreement, the European Commission has the “moral duty to remind the head of state (Ed.: Idriss Deby) that he is responsible for implementation of the political agreement and that he should give a concrete demonstration of his support for this process by immediately releasing the members of the unarmed political opposition”. During the rebels' attack on the capital, N'Djamena, in early February, forces supporting the Chadian government arrested three members of the political opposition. The fate of those arrested is still unknown. Lol Mahamat Choua, former president of the Republic and figurehead for the agreement concluded in August 2007; Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, spokesman for the main coalition of Chadian opposition parties, the Coordination pour la défense de la Constitution (CPDC); and Ngarlejy Yorongar, one of the longest standing opposition members, are among those held in detention, according to several reports in the international media. (A.By.)