Chad’s strongman president, Idriss Déby, is killed by rebels

HIS PRESIDENCY started with a rebellion. It also ended with one. On April 20th television stations in Chad interrupted their normal broadcasts to show a room full of men in uniform—medals gleaming and red berets neatly pressed—where an army spokesman announced the death of Idriss Déby, who had ruled Chad for 30 years. The announcement came just hours after election officials provisionally declared Mr Déby the winner of a flawed presidential election held on April 11th. Mr Déby, who came to power after mounting a coup in 1990, reportedly died after being injured on the battlefield while visiting troops fighting a rebel incursion that began on the very day of the election.Although the exact circumstances surrounding Mr Déby’s death are not yet clear, the transfer of authority that followed it is highly irregular. The government and parliament have been dissolved and a military council led by Mr Déby’s 37-year-old son, Mahamat Idriss Déby, has taken charge. By ignoring the constitution, the army has in effect staged a coup. It says it will rule for 18 months until “free and democratic” elections can be held. That may be too long for many people in Chad. “We don’t want a militarised Chad any more” says Bienfait Djiedor, a 31-year-old student in N’Djamena, the capital. “We want a democratic Chad…where reason rules, not force.”