Chad’s President General Déby meets Macron in Paris
The son of the late President Idriss Déby and head of Chad’s military junta General Mahamat Idriss Déby has left the country for a “friendship and working visit” to France.
CAPE TOWN, July 5 (ANA) – The son of the late President Idriss Déby and head of Chad’s military junta General Mahamat Idriss Déby has left the country for a “friendship and working visit” to France, his office said on Sunday.
Déby, president of the Military Transition Council (MTC) “left N’Djaména on Sunday morning headed for Paris”, his office said in a statement that gave no details of his itinerary while in the French capital, French broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported.
The 37-year-old four-star general has led the junta that took control of the country in April after his father’s sudden death. The 68-year-old Déby died of injuries sustained while fighting rebels in the north of the Sahel.
He was viewed as an invaluable leader in Chad and an important figure in the fight against extremist groups in the Sahel region. He was in power for three decades and was looking to extend his three-decade rule despite mounting calls for political change, according to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).
A member of the Chadian delegation told the French news agency AFP that the general would have dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday.
The general’s visit to France is the third, and the first outside Africa after visiting Niger and Nigeria, since he took over control of his country, according to RFI.
France, the former colonial power in Chad, has a strong presence in the country’s political situation.
The move by the MTC to take over control of the country was criticised by opposition politicians, who called it a “coup”, and many Chadians have rejected the takeover.
On April 27, the public responded to calls for demonstrations by political parties and civil society organisations. The activists, mostly made up of the youth, marched peacefully in the cities of Sarh and Koumra in southern Chad on May 2, news media service Africanews reported.
On May 20, the African Union (AU), a continental body of African countries, called for a “democratic transition” for the Chadian government within 18 months, according to the Organization for World Peace (OWP).
The TMC consists of 40 ministers and deputy ministers and a new National Reconciliation and Dialogue Ministry. The new ministry is led by Acheick Ibn Oumar, a former rebel leader who has served as a diplomatic adviser to Deby’s administration since 2019.
Last month, Déby and the TMC promised to support the AU’s calls for a “democratic transition” of power through the institution of a transitional government. This would Include opposition party members, the ISS said last month.
Macron was the only Western head of state to attend the funeral of Idriss Déby Itno and meet General Mahamat.
Macron recently announced a gradual withdrawal of French troops from the Sahel in favour of a smaller contingent focused on anti-terrorism and supporting African armies, according to RFI.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher