The UN Security Council urged countries this evening to support Chad's government against rebels, opening the way for foreign aid to help thousands who have fled a two-day assault on the capital.
The riverside city was deserted as dusk fell. The remaining residents were fearful that some 2,000 rebel fighters, who want to topple President Idriss Deby to end what they call a corrupt and dictatorial rule, might return. They withdrew yesterday.
Pickups crammed with soldiers patrolled the streets and army helicopters flew overhead after two days of clashes which left hundreds wounded. Bodies and abandoned vehicles littered the capital of the oil-producing, central African state.
In New York, a non-binding UN Security Council resolution urged the international community to support Deby, giving a green-light to France to answer Chad's appeals for foreign aid.
"The Security Council calls upon member states to provide support in conformity with the United Nations charter as requested by the government of Chad," the council said.
France, the former colonial power which has troops stationed in Chad, previously said it would remain neutral. But President Nicolas Sarkozy appeared to harden his stance on Monday, saying France could intervene more directly if it had UN approval.
"The situation in Chad is alarming because Chad has a legitimate government elected at the ballot box," Sarkozy told a news conference during a visit to Romania.
The rebel attack, which Chad said was backed by neighbouring Sudan, forced the European Union to delay the deployment of a peacekeeping force to eastern Chad to protect more than 200,000 refugees from the war in Sudan's Darfur region. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said this was a temporary measure.
Deby's government, reeling from the second strike on the capital in two years, claimed a military victory on Monday. But the rebels, who denounce his 18-year rule as corrupt, said their withdrawal late yesterday was tactical.
Timane Erdimi, leader of one of the groups in the rebel coalition, said they had pulled back to face pro-Deby fighters from Sudan's Darfur region, who were racing to the president's aid across some 800 km (500 miles) of scrub from the east.