During a battle between government forces and rebels in N'Djamena, soldiers reportedly surrounded Yorongar's house and arrested him on February 3, 2008. On February 9, Yorongar's son Roukoulmian Yorongar said that he was afraid for father's life, recalling the effects of his 2001 torture and saying that his father was already in poor health. Roukoulmian said that his father could not have been working with the rebels, because he had supported inclusive dialogue rather than violence as a means of achieving change. The government claimed on February 22 that Yorongar had resurfaced in the Moursal district of N'Djamena, but this was disputed, with Yorongar's son and an opposition lawyer saying that no one in the district reported seeing Yorongar. The lawyer, Mahamat Hassan Abacar, said that the government was only trying to give assurances to the French in hopes that French President Nicolas Sarkozy would visit Chad.