Embattled president turfs kinsmen from military leadership

Vowing defiance in the wake of a series of incidents that may have loosened his grip on power, Chad’s President Idriss Deby has removed members of his own ethnic group from the military’s top posts. Speaking on Wednesday to hundreds of supporters gathered outside the presidential palace, an embattled Deby pledged to stand firm despite recent desertions and attacks on the military. “We can’t allow opportunists from this or that armed group to make impossible claims when there is a constitution, adopted by the People of Chad, which condemns violent acts,” said Deby, who came to power in a 1990 coup d’etat. “It’s important that we be strong against these mercenaries in order to bring peace and order back to the country,” he added only two days after unidentified gunmen had attacked two camps in the capital Ndjamena and its outskirts. The situation is particularly tense in the country’s east where an unestablished number of soldiers have joined the rebel Rally for Change, National Unity and Democracy (SCUD) after deserting their posts. Two years of fighting in neighbouring Sudan’s Darfur Province have destabilised eastern Chad and proved a real conundrum for Deby. The conflict opposes the Sudanese government, which facilitated Deby’s rise to power, to rebels, many of whom belong to the president’s own Zaghawa ethnic group that dominates senior posts in the armed forces. But a number of Chadian officers have criticised the president for not giving enough support to Darfur’s Zaghawas and his kinsmen were behind a mutiny in May 2004. The head of the SCUD group of deserters, Yaya Dillo Djerou, is also Zaghawa. In a decree on Tuesday night, Deby named Banyara Kossingar chief of staff and made Nadjita Beassoumal, a former companion in arms, commander of the air force. Both are southerners and were promoted at the expense of Zaghawas. In all, there are 200 names on Tuesday’s decree which extends to the police and military units throughout the country. No official explanation was given but officers contacted by IRIN said that Deby, whose power base traditionally lies with the Zaghawas, no longer trusts his kinsmen and is reaching out to other ethnic groups to regain control of the situation. “The president has taken away the Zaghawas’ exclusive hold on power and is rewarding career officers,” a Chadian army officer told IRIN on Thursday on condition of anonymity. “But they haven’t been completely flushed out. Outside the capital, Zaghawa commanders have simply been assigned deputies from other ethnic groups.” The Chadian president is no stranger to military reshuffles or armed opponents. Last month, Deby overhauled the republican guard charged with ensuring his security after a number of its members had deserted. And last year, he accused the Sudanese government of harbouring 3,000 rebels operating in the border region.