Chadian demands for financial compensation from France to maintain its military operation there will be considered, if the request is confirmed through diplomatic bilateral channels, the French foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Chadian President Idriss Deby criticised the French presence in Chad on Wednesday, on the occasion of Chad's 50th anniversary of independence from France.

Deby said that France's Operation Epervier (Sparrowhawk) "no longer had a role" in Chad.

"It's now 20 years since Epervier exists and it no longer plays a role apart from providing some healthcare for the sick and logistical support in case of an attack somewhere," he said.

Epervier was established in 1986 to aid then-president Hissène Habré, who was being attacked by Libya.

France currently has over 1,000 soldiers based in Chad, while 800 others are serving in Minurcat, the UN-led force with a mandate to protect refugees in the eastern part of the country. Deby demanded earlier this year that Minurcat's mandate should not be renewed, and the 3,000-strong peacekeeping force has until December 31, 2010 to leave the country.

But Vincent Hugeux, author of L'Afrique en Face, told RFI that French strategic interests in Chad are military rather than economic - especially if France wants to make unilateral interventions in African countries.

Hugeux said that Deby's call for compensation is part of a neo-populism that is gripping Chad.

"With all of the political difficulties he has been facing for years now, Deby wants to appear as the one who is guaranteeing and securing the genuine independence of the country toward the UN or the French," Hugeux told RFI.

"I think it might pay off politically speaking on the domestic scene," he said.

Whatever his motives, "Deby is a gambler," said Hugeux.

"He is trying his best to extract concessions and money from France, and he knows he has some good reasons to believe that it might work," he added.