Condolences for the death of Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno we ask Almighty God to have mercy on him
تعازي بوفاة الرئيس التشادي إدريس ديبي إيتنو نسألالله تعالى أن يرحمه
Written by Mahmoud A. Suleiman
God Almighty says, “Every soul will taste death, but you will pay your rewards on the Day of Resurrection. And whoever moves away from the fire and enters Heaven has won, and the life of this world is nothing but the goods of vanity.”
Surat Al Imran Translation of Verse 185
The affliction is great and the loss great, but we only say that which pleases Almighty Allah, we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.
The entire people in Chad, Sudan and Africa have been traumatized, given his selfless pledge to serve his country and its people. He is a man of courageous stances, may Allah have Marcy on him. May I pay my warmest condolences to his family and the people of Chad in particular and people of Africa in general.
In order to talk about the biography of the late Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno, one has to go through historical milestones of his political life that extended more than three decades.
The attempting to write about the late Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, may God have mercy on him, is a matter of deep sorrow and one that deserves mercy for his spirit and reminding some of his biography, which is the history of the country of Chad during three decades, and the political history of Africa. His political role in Sudan cannot be ignored, especially with regard to the issue of the Darfur region that comes in the forefront in particular. His hosting of twelve refugee camps in Eastern Chad, with more than 360,000 refugees (UNHCR) from the Darfur region in camps inside Chad and it is impossible to turn a blind eye to President Deby’s growing role in fighting extremists in the semi-arid stretch of land just south of the Sahara Desert which includes Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania, the Sahel region which has become home to several groups that profess to be jihadi in the name of Islamic religion, both Boko Haram as well as those factions affiliated to the so-called The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). One at this juncture, will recall hisrole in resisting the injustice of his tyrannical predecessors, such as Français Tombalbaye, Felix Malloum, Goukouni Oueddei and Hussein Habri. The history of his entry into the Chadian Capital Ndjamena through the National Salvation Movement,-mouvement patriotique du salut (MPS) will remain a milestone in his political record. We without a shred of doubt, mention his pioneering role in the corridors of the African Union as well as in the world stage. He is a pride of the people in the so-called Developing countries. As a military commander and as president Idriss Déby Itno was feared – people say he had an aura about him that meant they did not want to mess with him. He was also shrewd when it came to diplomacy and would often buy off his opponents.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-56816290
As for the courage of the late President Idriss Deby, there is no room for doubt, as he led the army himself to the battlefield and was shot dead and moved to his Lord on Tuesday, the twentieth of April 2021.
Déby also seems to have defined how battles are fought in the region – when he led Chad’s forces against the military might of Libya in 1987.
In what became known the “Toyota War” he used high-speed pick-up trucks armed with missiles and heavy machine guns to defeat the Libyans, a tactic now often used across the region by rebels. At the time Hassan Djamous was a Commander in Chief of the Chadian Army and a cousin of the late Chadian President Idriss Déby. The Hassan Djamous International Airport is named after him. He led Chadian forces during the Chadian–Libyan conflict, such as the victory in the Battle of Maaten al-Sarra.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_Djamous
James Leonard Farmer Jr. who was an American civil rights activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement and who pushed for nonviolent protest to dismantle segregation, and served alongside Martin Luther King Jr has been quoted as saying: “We, Who are the Living, possess the past, tomorrow is for Our Martyrs”.https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/martyrs-quotes
In these difficult moments, I wish for stability in Chad and peace for its citizens, protects them from evils, and helps the Chadian Transitional Military Council to succeed in its uneasy mission.
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/