Exiled Chadian rebel leader Timan Erdimi has traveled to Qatar for talks aimed at paving the way for democratic elections. After being in exile for a year, he returned to the country. However, boycotts by rebels and opposition groups remain a major obstacle.
Erdimi, now 67, returned home on Thursday ahead of a landmark lecture in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, scheduled for Saturday. Erdimi, who heads the United Resistance Forces (popularly known as the UFR), has twice been accused of leading armed groups that attempted to overthrow the Chadian government, in 2008 and again in 2019.
Erdimi's UFR, which consists of at least 40 rebel groups, said he signed a peace deal in Doha on August 8 and will be elected after his 18-month military rule in Chad. We had a discussion to pave the way for
However, the two largest rebel groups are boycotting the negotiating forum. Agence France-Presse reported that two groups in Chad, the Front for Change and Concord, sparked a 2021 attack in northeastern Chad that killed longtime leader Idriss Deby Itno. The group claims the forum is politically biased.
It is also expected that his next meeting will bring together 1,400 representatives from the military government, civil society opposition parties and trade unions.
According to General Mahamat Idriss Deby, chairman of Chad's Transitional Military Council, the talks offer the divided country an opportunity for reconciliation.
His 18-month period of military rule for the transition to democracy ends in his October. This is what France, the African Union and other stakeholders have urged the president to do to meet the deadline.
