Chad’s Deby defends decision to break ‘obsolete’ defense pact with Paris

Chadian president Mahamat Idriss Deby has defended his decision to break military ties with France and ask for the withdrawal of French troops, saying that the security agreement with its former colonial master failed to provide substantial military value to the country amid various challenges, including terrorist attacks.
Deby has said their defense pact no longer meets Chad’s security needs and is in no way helping to rescue the Sahel country from what he calls growing security challenges, including armed conflicts and terrorism. The announcement was made after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot visited Chad last week where he was reportedly told by Chadian officials that the country’s military is “strong enough to protect civilians and their property”. Following the forced withdrawal of French troops from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso following coups, Chad’s latest decision is “another nail in the coffin” of France’s historic and colonial role in west and central Africa, experts say.
The decision that requires France to withdraw its troops from the central African nation after about 65 years echoes growing anti-French sentiment with civil society groups who say it is long overdue. Deby’s decision has reignited debates on what civil society and opposition groups call France’s overbearing influence provoking tensions in several African countries, especially Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Senegal. Several dozen civil society organizations and opposition parties reportedly met in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, recently to ask Deby to order the departure of over a thousand French troops stationed in Chad. Until recently, the West had considered Chad an important ally in the fight against jihadists in the Sahel.