"Oil money has particularly enabled Chad to acquire air power, which is decisive in victory," a Western diplomat based in Ndjamena told AFP, referring to Russian-built fighter planes and helicopters.

"The difference between the Chadian military in 2008 and that of 2009 is enormous," the diplomat said. "It has become a modern army."

In February 2008, rebels seeking to topple President Idriss Deby Itno swept into Chad from Sudan to the east and crossed the whole of the arid south of the country to be beaten back at the presidential palace in Ndjamena. Deby was saved only by French military intelligence -- which also provided ammunition supplies and evacuated the wounded -- along with divisions in rebel ranks.

Last week however, Sudanese-backed rebels again launched an offensive, but Chad's freshly equipped army and air force launched a counter-attack which kept the rebels in the east. They were routed after two days of fierce fighting in which Ndjamena says 247 people were killed, all but 22 of them rebels.

A military source said that though the rebels were also better equipped than in 2008, the Chadian army, which still benefitted from French intelligence, had no need of any further support.

"Unlike many Third World countries arming themselves, Chad made the right analysis of its needs," another French military source recently said. "They bought weapons that are easily used and didn't fall into the trap of buying high-tech and complicated equipment, needing much know-how and maintenance."

Oil was discovered in the 1990s and production started in 2003, but Chad, which first saw dividends from investment in 2006, remains one of the poorest nations on the planet. The country produces 170,000 barrels per day, providing an income estimated at 750 million euros (one billion dollars) a year.

"A lot of that money went on military spending. The sums were not made public. The money should have been used for development projects in a nation where poverty is everywhere," lawyer and humanitarian activist Delphine Djiraibe said.

However, according to Jane's Information Group: "Although Chad has a large military by sub-Saharan African standards, defence spending has been very low in comparison and one of the root causes of disaffection in the ranks, especially as the oil boom raised expectations of higher spending."

On its web site, Jane's said that, despite the oil boom, defence spending in 2006 had amounted to less than two dollars per member of the armed forces, while the United States contributed seven million dollars in 2006 and 2007.

Under an agreement with the World Bank when it financed the construction of a pipeline, 70 percent of oil revenues was to have been devoted to poverty reduction through programmes like health and education. But in September 2008, Chad broke off that arrangement with the World Bank, to manage its resources as the authorities saw fit.

"The government can pride itself on a military victory, but no victory is definitive. A political solution is needed," Djiraibe said. "Victory gives Deby a motive to say that oil money is well spent on war, so that more of the money can be spent on war."

"Non-governmental organisations deal in emotions but don't run states," government spokesman and Communications Minister Mahamat Hissene retorted. "A country must defend itself with its own means. With the increase in the national budget due to oil, there was an increase in the defence budget."

"Our means remain modest, but they are more effective," he added.

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