The Chadian president died on Tuesday, April 20, in the combat zone in the northwest of the country. A dozen foreign heads of state are on hand this Friday to pay tribute to a final national tribute to the Marshal of Chad.
as reported from Ndjamena, Madjiasra Nako
Eleven heads of state, including the French, Emmanuel Macron, the Congolese Félix Tshisekedi, the Nigerian Mouhamed Bazoum or the representative of European diplomacy Josep Borrell are currently in Ndjamena. A notable absence, the Congolese Denis Sassou Nguesso who invoked family reasons.
Upon arrival of the deadly remains at 9 a.m. on the country’s website, Idriss Déby will receive tributes from her biological and political family, her comrades and then from the heads of foreign states who will be present at the Place de la Nation, opposite the Presidential Palace where tents have been pitched. .
Then the Vice-Chairman of the Transitional Council, General Djimadoum Tiraina, one of Idriss Deby’s faithful who was his last Minister of Defense, will deliver the funeral word.
The marshal attribute will be placed on the coffin while 21 cannon shots will sound to greet the memory of the deceased.
The remains will be handed over to the family, the time for a prayer in the large mosque Ndjamena before going to Amdjarass, not far from his home village where Idriss Déby Itno’s body now rests.
Macron and Déby, a close relationship
Before leaving for the Chadian capital, Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone with Hinda Déby, the wife of Idriss Déby. Then, when he arrived in the Chadian capital, he met face to face with the son of the late president, Mahamat Idriss Déby, who now heads the Transitional Military Council.
This morning he will attend Idriss Déby’s funeral in the company of Franck Paris, his African adviser and Jean-Yves Le Drian, his foreign minister.
Emmanuel Macron will have maintained a close relationship with Idriss Déby, an unwavering ally from France since 1990. A first tête-à-tête at the Élysée in the summer of 2017 was quickly followed by a conference of donors to help the country in financial difficulties. Emmanuel Macron is barely installed at the Elysee Palace and chooses to continue the link that his predecessor established with Idriss Déby.
The Chadian president has made military diplomacy a central axis of his policies. This strategy is all the more profitable as in 2017 France decided to accelerate the implementation of the G5 Sahel Joint Force. More experienced than its counterparts in the Sahel, the Chadian army will play a key role in this new unit, while Chadian soldiers are already among the most numerous in Minusma.
In this context, Emmanuel Macron can hardly do without Idriss Déby, who he visits at the end of 2018. Paris even flies to his aid in early 2019 when his power seems to be threatened by the rebels. French aviation bombs a UFR column came from Libya. France can ask the Chadian president to organize the legislative election he has rejected since 2015, Idriss Déby has long turned a deaf ear. How long does it take to honor another of its commitments: to send 1,200 soldiers to the area known as the Three Borders? Idriss Déby is being fought by Boko Haram’s attacks, which is often the case, has heightened efforts and called for support from his eternal ally.
According to the Elysee, Macron also met on Thursday night with the president of Malia’s transition, the president of Mauritania and Niger. Then with Moussa Faki Mahamat, President of the AU Commission.
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