Chad's soldiers are respected for their experience in desert warfare
Alex Duval Smith
BBC News, Bamako
The Chadian retreat does not signal that the job of routing
Islamist militants is complete in Mali. It indicates that President
Idriss Deby does not want his 2,000 troops in the country to get drawn
into the urban guerrilla war that is expected to be its main feature
from now on.
Chad has lost more than 30 soldiers in operations carried out jointly with France in northern Mali.
Chad's presence alongside the French - who have lost five soldiers - has been crucial both militarily and politically.
The timing of Mr Deby's announcement positions him perfectly
to negotiate a prominent role for his country's troops in the
forthcoming UN peacekeeping force whose mandate is expected to be agreed
at the Security Council later this month.
Mr Deby, who came to power in a coup in 1990, also has
worries at home. Last month, a rebel coalition called l'Union des Forces
de la Resistance (UFR) announced that it was taking up arms again after
a two-year truce.
But fighting continues in some remote parts of the Sahara Desert.
Chad's 2,000 troops were seen as playing a crucial role in the fighting because of their experience in desert warfare.
About 30 have been killed - more than any other nationality, reports the Reuters news agency.
Three of them died in a suicide attack in Kidal on Friday.
Mr Deby told French media that Chad's soldiers had "accomplished their mission".
"We have already withdrawn a mechanised battalion," he said.
But he said Chad would contribute to a proposed 11,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali.
France has also started to withdraw some of its 4,000
soldiers and hopes to have just 1,000 in the country by the end of the
year.
France led the intervention in January, saying the al-Qaeda-linked militants were threatened to march on the capital, Bamako.
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