Chad

A

French Rule

In the late 19th century the area was subdued by the Sudanese conqueror Rabah Zubayr, and it was taken over by the French on his death. In 1910 Chad became a part of French Equatorial Africa, with headquarters in Brazzaville, Congo, about 2,400 km (1,500 mi) away. The change to colonial status resulted in little interference in the way of life of the indigenous peoples and little development beyond the establishment of cotton plantations in the south.

B

Independence

In 1960 Chad, like its neighbours in the French community, became independent. Desperately poor, the governments of President François Tombalbaye, a southerner, were supported by French aid. The dissatisfaction of northern Muslims first surfaced in 1963 and forced some changes in the southern Bantu-dominated one-party government. This, however, was not enough to satisfy them, and in 1969 Muslim guerrillas began to operate in the north. With support from neighbouring Libya, which coveted the Aouzou strip along the northern border, their attacks escalated during the following years.

Despite military aid from France, Tombalbaye’s situation was made totally untenable by the drought of the early 1970s. He was assassinated in 1975. His successor, General Félix Malloum, was not able to end the civil strife. By 1979 the war had engulfed the south, Malloum was overthrown, and a northerner, Goukouni Oueddei, emerged as president.

C

Libyan Involvement

In 1980 Libya intervened to support Oueddei against rebels under former defence minister Hissène Habré, who was backed by Sudan and Egypt. After the Libyan forces withdrew late in 1981, Habré renewed his offensive, and his troops captured N’Djamena in June 1982. In 1983 the ousted Oueddei formed a rival government in the north. In the continued civil strife, Oueddei had the backing of Libyan troops, while France sent troops and supplies to keep Habré in power.

By the end of 1988, Libyan forces had been driven out of Chad, and the two nations had normalized diplomatic relations. In December 1990, however, Habré was ousted by an insurgent group, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), which had Libyan support. The rebel leader, General Idriss Déby, then assumed the presidency.

In January 1992 the Déby government claimed to have crushed a rebellion by forces loyal to Habré, and France sent more troops as a safeguard. In April 1993 the Higher Transitional Council, a transitional government, was established. A handover to an elected government was scheduled initially for April 1994, but was delayed by 12 months. A second delay, of nine months, was announced in April 1995. This second postponement of the transitional government was extremely contentious. The Higher Transitional Council subsequently forced the prime minister to resign. Political and ethnic unrest continued throughout the transition period. Déby was officially inaugurated as president in August 1996, following the second round of presidential elections in which, according to official results, he was elected by 69 per cent of votes cast. After several delays, legislative elections were held in January and February 1997; the MPS won 55 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly.

President Déby appointed Nassour Ouidou Guelendouksia as prime minister in May 1997. An agreement on national reconciliation was reached between government representatives and three of the main rebel forces in October. However, there was a resurgence of violence in 1998. The government signed peace agreements in May and June with rebel groups in efforts to stabilize the country; nevertheless, throughout 1999 there was fighting in the northern area of Chad, led mostly by the rebel Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT), headed by the former defence minister, Youssouf Togoimi.

After a period of economic crisis in December 1999, President Déby appointed Nassoum Yamassoum as the new prime minister. His government faced growing opposition, as the three main rebel groups formed an alliance in February 2000. The MDJT associated itself with the Democratic Revolutionary Council and the Movement for Democracy and Development (MDD), which took a new name, the Movement for Unity and the Republic (MUR). The garrison town of Bardai in northern Chad, a key government stronghold, was captured by the rebels in July, and heavy fighting continued throughout the rest of 2000. There were calls for a delay to the elections due to be held in May 2001 by numerous opposition factions that claimed that the instability in the country would not allow fair voting. Déby won the election with over 63 per cent of the vote and was sworn in for a second five-year term. His political opponents claimed that there were voting irregularities and electoral fraud.

Libyan-brokered peace talks between the MDJT and the government were opened in December. The following month it was announced that a peace accord had been signed to end the three years of civil war. Under the terms of the accord an immediate ceasefire took place, along with the release of prisoners, and the promise of government posts for MDJT leaders.

However, the accord lasted only until May 2002 when renewed fighting broke out between the MDJT rebels and government forces. Another peace deal was brokered in December of that year. The new prime minister, Haroun Kabadi, was appointed in June 2002 but survived only a year in office before being replaced by Moussa Faki; Faki himself resigned early in 2005.

D

Violence Spreading From Sudan

In early 2004 fighting in the Darfur region of western Sudan spilled over into Chad and an estimated 100,000 refugees fled over the border to escape the unrest. Chadian forces clashed with Sudanese militias as the unrest spread. Meanwhile, rebels based in eastern Chad, intent on unseating President Déby, took advantage of the unrest and advanced on the capital while fighting with government troops. Chad and Sudan broke diplomatic relations after Déby accused Sudan of supporting the rebel action. After constitutional changes were adopted to allow Déby to stand once more as president, he won the May 2006 elections—which were boycotted by many opposition parties—with 61 per cent of the vote. An attempted coup by rebel forces three weeks before election day, in which over a hundred people were killed, did not delay the poll. A state of emergency was declared in November 2006. By early 2007 the war in Darfur had spread to Chad and neighbouring Central African Republic and refugees from the fighting there were also fleeing into Chad. The new secretary-general of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, proposed a peacekeeping force of 11,000 be sent to region. Prime minister Pascal Yoadimnadji died in February 2007 and was replaced with Delwa Kassire Koumakoye.