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Ex-rebels deny responsibility for politician's death

Country Map - Chad IRIN

A former rebel group, the MDJT, has denied responsibility for the death of a politician on Sunday in northern Chad, Africa Number One, a radio station based in Gabon reported on Tuesday.

African Democratic Party leader Mahamat Gueti was killed when his car detonated a land mine near the northern town of Faya Largeau as he visited polling stations during Sunday's legislative elections. Interior Minister Abdrahmane Moussa attributed his death to a terrorist act and announced the arrest of an unspecified number of people, among them two members of the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT - French abbreviation).

Gueti's party was part of a coalition opposed to the ruling Patriotic Salvation Movement, led by President Idriss Deby, who seized power in December 1990 and won elections in 1996 and 2001.

The MDJT waged a war against the government for three years until the two sides signed a peace agreement in January 2002. Its rebellion was limited to northern Chad, an area littered with land mines planted during decades of armed conflict.


This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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