Chad’s military government and dozens of opposition groups have begun peace talks in Qatar as a first step toward putting an end to the rebellion and holding elections.
A total of 44 armed rebel and opposition groups were invited to the Doha meeting, though some were absent at the start on Sunday, which had already been postponed from February 27.
Chad’s Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke and African Union Commission President Moussa Faki Mahamat both stated at the start of the conference that for the talks to succeed, both parties would have to make concessions. However, the process has the potential to be lengthy and complicated.
Last April, the landlocked African nation was thrown into turmoil by the assassination of longtime leader Idriss Deby, and it is now fighting rebels in the country’s north.
After his death, his son, Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, a 38-year-old four-star general, took over, presiding over a 15-member military council and promising free elections following a national dialogue set to begin on May 10.
According to diplomats, the national dialogue may have to be postponed because the “precursor” talks in Doha could take weeks.
The dialogue, according to the younger Deby’s plan, would be a prelude to agreeing on a new constitution and then holding elections.
Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Chad has had a turbulent history, with tens of thousands of people killed in various conflicts between its large, shifting constellation of armed opposition groups.
Chadian rebels demanded a general amnesty as a condition for the Doha talks.
According to the military government, hundreds of prisoners have been released and several prominent leaders have been granted amnesty. However, it has so far excluded the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), the Libya-based group that launched the offensive that resulted in the death of Idriss Deby Itno.
Mahamat Mahdi Ali, the leader of the FACT, was not present at the talks.
“The situation in Chad is very serious; we must deliver this,” African Union Secretary-General Boubacar Keita said in a speech to the government and armed groups.
Chad’s Prime Minister, Issa Padacke, stated that “peace requires more courage and maturity than war,” and that the success of the talks would help stabilize the entire Sahel region, where armed groups have staged regular attacks.
“True courage does not imply brandishing your weapon, but rather having the courage to lay it down,” he explained.
Libya’s Foreign Minister, Najla al-Mangoush, also stated that the peace process is critical to improving stability and assisting in the “fight against terrorism” in the Sahel.
In 1990, the elder Deby rose to power as the leader of a rebel force. Columns of fighters came close to forcing him out in 2008 and again in 2019, but were thwarted each time by French military power.
Source: AP
