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Chad: Mahamat Idriss Deby succeeds father



By Maureen Ikpeama


Lt.-Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby, son of  the late  Chad's president , Idriss Deby, has been appointed to head the transitional military council established in Chad,following the death of his father  on Tuesday.


The military plans to publish a “transitional charter” soon.


Chad declared a two-week national mourning period after the president’s death and imposed a curfew from 18:00 p.m. local time until 05:00 a.m.


In addition, the military decided to close land and air borders “until further notice.”


Mahamat previously served as the second in command of the Armed Forces for the Chadian Intervention in Northern Mali (FATIM).


On February 22, he led his army against rebels in the Adar al-Ifoghas mountains in Northern Mali leading to the Battle of al-Ifoghas.


They eliminated a rebel base said to be of “significant importance”, inflicting heavy losses upon the rebels but also losing twenty-six men in the process, including Abdel Aziz Hassane Adam, a commander of special forces.


Mahamat took full command of the FATIM and has since been leading operations against rebels in the North.


Recall that Chad’s President  Idriss Deby, was  recently re-elected for his sixth term, .He got injured during clashes with rebels and died in a hospital.


The military spokesman, Azem Bermandoa Agouna, said that the president died while protecting the country’s territorial integrity.


Déby, who has ruled Chad for 30 years, was re-elected for a sixth term with 79.32 per cent of the vote, according to official results released Monday shortly after the army said it had defeated a rebellion launched on election day April 11 and killed “more than 300 enemies.


Marshal Déby’s re-election was widely anticipated by Chadians who voted without enthusiasm on April 11, according to AFP journalists in N’Djamena.


The incumbent was opposed by six candidates with no political weight who were accused of being mere “stooges”, as the government had dismissed, legally or through violence and intimidation, the leaders of a divided opposition.

Mahamat Idriss Deby succeeds father as Chadian President


Lt. Gen. Mahamat

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