Six opposition leaders in Chad, who were arrested Wednesday last week after Chad’s Presidential elections, were released the next day from their second detention in three days. They were freed after trade unions and human rights groups called for a general strike to protest against their arrest.

The political turmoil started after President Idriss Deby, who had in 1990 muscled into power through a military coup, was re-elected May 20 in an election billed by many local nongovernmental organizations as fradulent. However, foreign observers said the elections appeared fair.

Chadian human rights groups suggest the World Bank and IMF-approved $260 million in debt relief approved when the elections were underway, might have signaled their tacit support of President Deby.

The groups suggest that the World Bank’s statements about their stabilizing influences are at best naive. The NGOs fear dire environmental and social consequences to the region if the political turmoil spills into the project.

The NGOs are calling for an immediate stop to the debt relief measures until democratic order is restored in the troubled nation.`