Minister of Defense Wadal Abdelkader Kamougue of Chad

Today, smiling broadly, Colonel Kamougue took office as Chad's new Minister of Agriculture.

Wadal Abdelkader Kamougue was handed the defence portfolio and Jean Allingue will become a justice minister.

Former vice president Wadal Abdelkader Kamougue is "alive and free," but in "hiding in the countrys interior," said Communications Minister Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor, late Saturday.

are rebel forces in Sudan's border Darfur region.

Kamougue is returning from Cameroon, where he fled during the recent unrest in Chad.

Chad's government has confirmed that one of the men, former President Lol Mahamat Choua, was detained as a prisoner of war, and that former Vice President Wadal Abdelkader Kamougue has gone into hiding.