Prior to a national dialogue that will take place later this month, the rebel groups and Chad’s transitional government signed a peace deal on Monday in Doha.
More than 30 rebel factions participated in a signing ceremony for the peace accord, which was the result of months of negotiations in the capital of Qatar and included the parties’ commitment to take part in a national, inclusive conversation.
The agreement’s implementation and monitoring procedures, for example, were not immediately disclosed.
The foreign minister of the interim military administration, Mahamat Zene Cherif, told reporters that he thought the deal would bring about long-lasting peace in the country and that 1,500 representatives will take part in the national dialogue on August 20.
The government, the rebels, and a variety of other groups and parties are all expected to participate in the national conversation.
“Most of the armed groups signed this agreement and they will take part in the national dialogue. And this national, inclusive dialogue is a forum for all Chadian people,” he said, brushing off concerns that not all groups had signed up to the deal.
The Doha accord was swiftly rejected on Sunday by the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT), a rebel organisation with a stronghold in Libya that last year threatened to march on the capital.
In a statement, FACT claimed that the agreement had fallen short of its requests, which included the release of captives taken during the conflict. The group declared that it was still up for discussion.
According to a person with knowledge of the deal, those who signed were committed to a long-term truce and to the advancement of civilian disarmament.
On condition of anonymity, the source claimed that the temporary military administration of Chad had also agreed to refrain from conducting military or police operations against parties that had agreed to the agreement in neighboring nations.
Mahamat Idriss Deby, who last year seized over after his father’s passing, for which FACT claimed credit, is the head of the temporary military administration.
In April 2021, after his father, the country’s longstanding leader Idriss Deby, was assassinated while visiting forces engaged in the north’s rebel insurgency, Deby proclaimed himself the chairman of a Transitional Military Council.
Initially, his council promised to oversee an 18-month transition to democracy, but as that time has drawn closer, there have been few indications that elections will be held.
Speaking at the signing, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the foreign minister of Qatar, urged parties that had not signed to do so.