By John Ikani
The repeatedly delayed peace talks between Chad’s military-led government and armed rebel groups kicked off on Sunday in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.
Chad’s Transitional Military Council is led by Mahamat Idriss Deby, who seized power after his father Idriss Deby was killed by armed rebels while visiting troops fighting an insurgency in the north.
Mahamat had in January said the national talks are a necessary precursor to presidential and legislative elections.
Last January, political dissidents and rebels were freed following an amnesty decreed in November. However some rebels from the FACT group are still detained.
African Union Commission head Moussa Faki Mahamat told the opening of the conference that both sides would have to make “concessions” for the talks to succeed.
But the process risks being protracted and complicated.
Over a hundred participants were present as the talks started, some of the 84 leaders from 44 rebels groups couldn’t make it on time because of travel documents issues.
These groups had asked for their assets to be returned and for an amnesty ahead of the negotiations.
Diplomats said these “precursor” talks could take weeks and that a planned “national dialogue” due to start on May 10 may have to be delayed.
Under the younger Deby’s plan, the dialogue would be a prelude to agreeing on a new constitution and then holding elections.
Chad has a long history of volatility since gaining independence from France in 1960 and tens of thousands have died in various conflicts.
It has a large and shifting constellation of armed opposition groups.
“The situation in Chad is very serious, we have to deliver this,” the African Union’s Faki said in his address to the government and armed groups.
