Rebel leader dies in hospital

The leader of Chad's main rebel organisation, Youssouf Togoimi, has died of his wounds in a hospital in Tripoli, Libya, media sources quoted an adviser as saying. Togoimi, who was the founding leader of the Mouvement pour la Democratie et la Justice au Tchad (MDJT), died on Tuesday, after being hospitalised for weeks for injuries incurred during a landmine accident, his political adviser, Youssouf Barkai, told the media. According to Barkai, Togoimi, a former Minister of Defence under President Idriss Deby, had been improving in health and the circumstances of his death were still unclear. In 1998, the MDJT launched a rebellion against Deby's government to protest what it deemed as an ineffective and "corrupt" regime. The rebellion was confined to the Tibesti region, which borders Libya to the north. However, in January this year, after Libyan mediation, the government and MDJT signed a peace agreement that called for a cease-fire and an amnesty for the rebel fighters. In February, the Chadian parliament passed an amnesty bill for the MDJT. Chadian government spokesman Moktar Wawa Dahab told Radio France Internationale (RFI) on Wednesday that the death of Togoimi, who constituted the "only obstacle to peace", would re-ignite the peace process.