Armed Guard

This morning I returned to my office after spending about half an hour talking to our Finance Officer to find four armed soldiers parked in their pick-up truck (complete with its own automatic anti-aircraft machine gun) just outside my window.

It's not uncommon to see the Chadian Army out in force whenever the President is leaving from or arriving at the airport but they have never been quite as close to our hangar as they were today. It's known locally as a 'tapis rouge' (literally 'red carpet') and as well as stopping the traffic between the Presidential Palace and the airport to ensure a quick and safe passage for the President there are usually soldiers stationed at various points close to the runway at the airport. In the last month we have also seen this pick-up but until today it has always been a fairly good distance away from us.

My office window was open so I politely exchanged greetings with the soldiers and tried to find out how long they might be there but either they didn't understand my French (quite likely) or they didn't know (also quite likely as the exact timing of the President's flights are a closely guarded secret and the tapis rouge can last for several hours). I wasn't sure what to make of it - our Chadian staff were surprised they were so close but none of them seemed inclined to go out and ask them to move away! I'm never sure if having soldiers so close by makes you more or less safe. I guess it depends on the soldiers, whether they have to use their weapons and whether what / who they are shooting at fires back...

Mostly I think they are bored and hot and I think they parked so close to the hangar in order to try and get some shade. We gave them some water and they asked for tea (which we didn't give them) and after about 4 hours the President's plane departed and so did the soldiers.

I would have so liked to get a photograph of them but as taking photos of military personnel is a BIG no-no all around the world that wasn't going to happen. They may have loved the idea of having their picture taken by a white female and it would have relieved their boredom for a few minutes but I wasn't going to take the risk that they might have the opposite reaction...!