Slain Chad leader Deby’s son named ‘president’

CHAD’S slain leader Idriss Deby Itno’s son will take over as president in place of his father, according to a charter released yesterday by the presidency, while rebel forces set their sights on the state’s capital N’Djamena, threatening to bring more disruption to a country vital to international efforts to combat extremists in Africa.

According to the presidency, General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 37, who on Tuesday was named transitional leader as head of a military council following his father’s death, will “occupy the functions of the president of the republic” and also serve as head of the armed forces. The charter repeals the preceding constitution and will be implemented as the “basic law of the republic,” according to its terms. The younger Deby has also been named “supreme head of the armed forces,” it said. Deby’s son had overseen his father’s security as head of the elite presidential guard and had often appeared alongside him. He signed a decree Tuesday setting out a military council with 15 generals, including himself and 14 others known to have been part of the late president’s circle of loyalists. The council is tasked with an 18-month transition toward “free and democratic elections.”

Mahamat Idriss Deby also chairs the “military transition council, the council of ministers, the councils and superior committees of national defense,” according to the charter. The new head of state will promulgate legislation adopted by the 69 members of the national transition council, who are named directly by Mahamat. The Transition Charter, which contains 95 articles, also guarantees “freedom of opinion, conscience and worship.” A transition government has been set up, whose members were also named by the new president.

“The members of the army who are called to the transition government are discharged from all military duties,” the charter said, according to remarks carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Meanwhile, schools and some businesses were open in N’Djamena on Wednesday but many people had opted to stay home and the streets were quiet, a Reuters witness said. Authorities imposed a nightly curfew and closed land and air borders after Deby’s death was announced. A 14-day period of national mourning is being observed.

Deby, 68, died on Monday on the frontline in a battle against Libya-based fighters.