Late Chadian President Laid to Rest

Chad will bury veteran ruler, Idriss Deby Itno on Friday as concerns mount over the loss of a kingpin in the fight against jihadism in the Sahel and uncertainty over the country’s democratic future.

The funeral, complete with military honours, such as the former Colonial Power, President Emmanuel Macron of France with other Heads of State and European Union foreign policy, Chief Josep Borrell, is scheduled to take place in the morning in N’Djamena’s main square, La Place de la Nation and the ceremony is to be followed by prayers at the capital’s Grand Mosque, after which Deby is to be laid to rest alongside his father in the village of Amdjarass next to his birthplace Berdoba, in the far east of the desert country near the border with Sudan.

Meanwhile, allies of the late leader moved swiftly to ensure power remained in their hands, making his 37-year-old son Mahamat, nicknamed Kaka, as president and head of a transitional military council while dissolving parliament and the government.