Politics . News . Current Events . Music . Television . Sports

Over 230,000refugees havefled across theborder into Chadto escape theSudanese Janjaweedmilitia, creating ahumanitarian crisis.N’Djamena was a military dictatorship led by Hissein Habre,who had up to 20,000 of his political opponents murdered inhis prisons.In 1990, the war finally ended when Idris Deby, a militaryofficer, overthrew the government of the dictator Habre andcalled for talks with rebel groups. All sides then agreed to aceasefire followed by democratic reform of the constitution.Despite this, rebellion broke out again in the north in 1998and carries on fitfully today.Chad has been ruled by an authoritarian President, Idris Deby,since 1990. In 2005, Deby altered the constitution to allow himto remain in power for another term.Some of the army mutinied in response to this action andformed rebel groupings across the border in Sudan.The conflict in the neighbouring Darfur province of Sudan hasdone much to destabilize Chad.Over 230,000 refugees have fled across the border into Chad toescape the Sudanese Janjaweed militia, creating a humanitariancrisis.Chadian rebel groups based in Sudan also began attackingChadian posts across its eastern border in 2005 –some of themdisgruntled army factions. Sudan has allegedly sponsored theseChadian rebel groups.Chad and Sudan signed an agreement at Tripoli in 2006 tostop either government backing armed groups on either sideof the border, but a low intensity conflict continues along theChad-Sudan border.The EU sent a humanitarian force to Chad in 2008 to try toprotect refugees from Darfur. The UN adopted the mission in2009. Idris Deby has now called for this force to be withdrawn asChad’s own military were capable of handling the problem.Deby is a member of a minority ethnicity and is heavilydependent on French support to remain in power.Whether Chad can ever become a stable and prosperous stateremains in doubt.