Chad president’s son General Mahamat takes over

N’Djamena, Chad | XINHUA | Following the death of Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno Tuesday, a transitional military council (CMT) headed by Mahamat Idriss Deby, son of ex-president Deby, is set up for 18 months, according to the spokesperson for the Chadian army, General Azem Bermandoa Agouna.

A national transitional charter will be promulgated in place of the current constitution which is suspended, General Agouna said.

For the past seven years, Mahamat Idriss Deby has headed the General Directorate for the Security of State Institutions (DGSSIE), the elite corps of the Chadian armed forces.

He took the reins of the country the day after a rebel incursion into Chad from the Front for Alternation and Concord in Chad (FACT), an armed rebel group based in neighboring Libya.

It was during the fighting with these rebels that ex-President Deby received injuries that cost him his life Tuesday.

Idriss Deby had just won the absolute majority in the first round of the presidential election. According to the CENI, Deby had received 3,663,431 votes, or 79.32% of all votes cast. Voter turnout was 64.81 percent.

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XINHUA