| 1990 Chadian coup d'état | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofChadian-Libyan conflict | |||||||
 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Government | MPS rebels | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Hissène Habré | Idriss Déby Bada Abbas Maldoum | ||||||
  Nexus of coup attempt in N'Djamena (marked green), Chad | |||||||
The1990 Chadian coup d'état took place on 1 December 1990[1] when the forces of thePatriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), aLibyan–backed[2] rebel group under the leadership of GeneralIdriss Déby, entered theChadian capitalN'Djamena unopposed. The MPS troops entered Chad by crossing theSudaneseborder three weeks earlier.[3]
Previously, on 1 December, authoritarian,Western backed PresidentHissène Habré, who had ruled the country since 1982, reportedly fled to neighboringCameroon with his family, Cabinet and top aides as his military, theChadian National Armed Forces (FANT), collapsed.[4]
Idriss Deby would rule the country until hisassassination in 2021.[5]
AlthoughFrance repeatedly supported the Habré government against local rebellions andLibyan attacks in the 1980s, theFrench government gave instructions to the 1,300French troops stationed in Chad not to intervene in what it described as an internal conflict, withFrench Foreign MinisterRoland Dumas saying in an apparent reference to France'straditional deep involvement inFrançafrique, its formercolonies in Africa:
The times have passed when France would pick governments or would change governments and would maintain others when it so wished.[3]
Dumas said some 300 extra French troops were sent to Chad in recent days only to protectFrench citizens and maintain order.[3] The French and the MPS troops immediately began disarming civilians and restoring order after rioting and looting swept through N'Djamena after the collapse of the Habré government.[3]
| Years in Chad (1911–present) | |
|---|---|
| 20th century | |
| 21st century | |
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