Chad's interim leader Deby confirms plan to run for president

3/3/2024 6:23

        Chad's interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby said on Saturday he plans to run in this year's long-awaited presidential race.
        
        Deby's confirmation came at the end of a chaotic week in which opposition politician Yaya Dillo was shot and killed in the capital N'Djamena.
        
        Dillo's death on Wednesday in disputed circumstances has further exposed divisions in the ruling elite at a politically sensitive time as the Central African country prepares for the promised return to democratic rule via the ballot box.
        
        The Chadian government has said Dillo was killed in an exchange of gunfire with security forces and has accused members of his party of also attacking the internal security agency.
        
        On Friday, the government confirmed that Deby's uncle, General Saleh Deby Itno, had been arrested in the wake of Wednesday's events.
        
        Itno had recently defected to Dillo's opposition Socialist Party Without Borders (PSF).