Abdelwahit About
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Abdelwahid Aboud Mackaye (born 1953) is a Chad
ian insurgent leader involved in the war to topple the Chadian President
Idriss Déby
. Originally a fighter in the Democratic Revolutionary Council
(CDR) militia during the first Chadian Civil War
, under Déby he became a civil servant before defecting to the rebels in 2003. After having been for a time first in the FUC
and later in the UFDD
, he has founded in 2007 the UFDD-Fundamental, which has participated in February 2008 to the unsuccessful attack on N'Djamena
.
A Salamat Arab, Abdelwahid was born in 1953 near to Oum Hadjer
in Batha
. He fought as a CDR militian in 1980 in the second battle of N'Djamena which saw confronted the President Goukouni Oueddei
and his Defence Minister Hissène Habré
; during the confrontation Abdelwahid was wounded, and since then he has always limped. Successively he became a civil servant, and occupying under the government of Idriss Déby the office of subprefect.
In 2003 Abdelwahid broke with Déby and passed in open rebellion. He became secretary-general of the Chad
ian rebel
group FIDEL, and, after the group's union with other organizations, one of the leaders of the newly formed United Front for Democratic Change
(FUC) rebel alliance, founded in December 2005 and under the presidency of Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim.
On January 19, 2006, Abdelwahid was arrested, along with nineteen other rebels, after participating in an interview
to Radio France Internationale
in the Sudan
ese capital of Khartoum
, in which he stated that "FUC's relations with the Sudanese government are friendly - very close", and argued that this was in line with the tradition under which successive Chadian rebellions had seized power with some degree of support from Khartoum. The Sudanese government repeatedly denied the accusation of Chadian President Idriss Déby
that the Sudanese government was providing financial and material support to the FUC. He was released from jail shortly after. His arrest was denounced by the Dakar
-based human rights organization RADDHO.
Abdelwahid organized in April together with Nour the attack on the capital
, which ended in a defeat for the rebels. During those days Déby arrested for fear of collusion with the rebels the general Ahmat Fadoul Makaye, the Chadian army's Deputy Chief of Staff and cousin of Abdelwahid. He was cleared of all suspicions and freed three days later. The latter was removed on September 26 with Issa Moussa Tamboulé from the FUC's political bureau; he was allegedly suspected of secretly plotting with the Déby government. Around the same time Abdelwahid, who represented an Arab faction increasingly hostile to Nour since his failed attack, using his position of secretary-general destituted Nour.
Following this, Abdelwahid with a group of FUC dissidents united with Acheikh ibn Oumar
's Democratic Revolutionary Council (CDR) and Mahamat Nouri
's Union of Forces for Progress and Democracy (UFPD) to found on October 22 the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development
(UFDD).
In April 2007, a major crisis shook the UFDD, when the Vice-President Acheikh ibn Oumar demanded Nouri a major role to his men in movement's apparatus. Nouri refused and expelled Acheikh and consolidated the control of his ethnic group, the Gorane, over the UFDD
After Acheikh, also Abdelwahid, anxious to retake his freedom of movement from Nouri, left the UFDD and founded in May with Acheikh a new armed group, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development-Fundamental (UFDD-F), an Arab-dominated group estimated to count on about 500 militians.
Abdelwahid took part to the peace talks held through Libya
n mediation in Tripoli
between the Chadian government and the leaders of four rebel movements, the UFDD with Nouri, the Rassemblement des Forces pour le Changement (RFC) with Timane Erdimi
, The Chadian National Concord with Hassan Saleh al-Djinedi and the UFDD-F. At the beginning of the talks on June 23, Abdelwahid stated that the "problem is mostly of a constitutional order", adding that they "demand a revision of the constitution
to reopen the road to transition". An important stage in the talks was reached on October 3 when the government and the four rebel groups signed an accord in Tripoli on power-sharing in the government and the integration of the rebel forces in the Chadian army
. Among the rebel leaders, Abdelwahid was the only one to call the paper signed a "definitive accord", while the others only considered it provisional. Due to the latters objection the four rebel leaders signed on October 25 a new accord in Surt, presumed to be definitive, under which the armed movements would disarm in November and become political parties.
The accord was broken already on November 26, giving way to violent fighting between the rebels and the government. In December, due to Sudanese pressures, reapproached himself to Nouri and Erdimi, forming with them in mid-December a Unified Military Command with Abderahman Koulamallah as spokesman. Abdelwahit claimed that after his bases within Sudan were attacked twice by the Chad Air Force
, first on December 28 and later on January 6, 2008.
By the end of January, the three rebels leaders put on the ground 3,000 men for an attack on the capital to deal onca and for all with Déby. The forces reach the capital, but are defeated
after a battle that leaves 160 dead on the ground, forcing the rebels to retreat.
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
ian insurgent leader involved in the war to topple the Chadian President
Heads of state of Chad
-List of Heads of State of Chad:-Affiliations:-External links:**...
Idriss Déby
Idriss Déby
General Idriss Déby Itno is the President of Chad and the head of the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Déby is of the Bidyat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. He added "Itno" to his surname in January 2006.-Rise to power:...
. Originally a fighter in the Democratic Revolutionary Council
Democratic Revolutionary Council
The Democratic Revolutionary Council was a faction of FROLINAT founded by Ahmat Acyl and later headed by Acheikh ibn Oumar and was also known as the New Vulcan Army....
(CDR) militia during the first Chadian Civil War
Chadian Civil War
The Transitional Government of National Unity was the coalition government of armed groups that nominally ruled Chad from 1979 to 1982, during the most chaotic phase of the long-running civil war that began in 1965. The GUNT replaced the fragile alliance led by Félix Malloum and Hissène Habré,...
, under Déby he became a civil servant before defecting to the rebels in 2003. After having been for a time first in the FUC
United Front for Democratic Change
The United Front for Democratic Change or Front uni pour le changement is a Chadian rebel alliance, made up of eight individual rebel groups, all with the goals of overthrowing the government of current Chadian President. It is now part of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development. UFDC...
and later in the UFDD
Union of Forces for Democracy and Development
The Union of Forces for Democracy and Development is the largest group of Chadian rebel forces opposed to current President Idriss Déby...
, he has founded in 2007 the UFDD-Fundamental, which has participated in February 2008 to the unsuccessful attack on N'Djamena
Battle of N'Djamena (2008)
The Battle of N'Djamena began on February 2, 2008 when Chadian rebel forces opposed to Chadian President Idriss Déby entered N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, after a three-day advance through the country. The rebels were initially successful, taking a large part of the city and attacking the heavily...
.
A Salamat Arab, Abdelwahid was born in 1953 near to Oum Hadjer
Oum Hadjer
Oum Hadjer is a small city in Chad, and the capital of Batha Est Department. It straddles the ephemeral Batha River, lies on the main road between Khartoum and N'Djamena, and has a small airport, . Strategically located, it has been contested by government and rebel forces in 1982, 1990, and...
in Batha
Batha Region
Batha is one of the 22 regions of Chad. It is located in the centre of the country, the regional capital is Ati, and the region is composed of what was formerly Batha Prefecture.-Subdivisions:The region of Batha is divided in 3 departments:-Demography:...
. He fought as a CDR militian in 1980 in the second battle of N'Djamena which saw confronted the President Goukouni Oueddei
Goukouni Oueddei
Goukouni Oueddei is a Chadian political figure. He was Head of State of Chad from 1979 to 1982. He is currently in exile.-Biography:...
and his Defence Minister Hissène Habré
Hissène Habré
Hissène Habré , also spelled Hissen Habré, was the leader of Chad from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990.-Early life:...
; during the confrontation Abdelwahid was wounded, and since then he has always limped. Successively he became a civil servant, and occupying under the government of Idriss Déby the office of subprefect.
In 2003 Abdelwahid broke with Déby and passed in open rebellion. He became secretary-general of the Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
ian rebel
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
group FIDEL, and, after the group's union with other organizations, one of the leaders of the newly formed United Front for Democratic Change
United Front for Democratic Change
The United Front for Democratic Change or Front uni pour le changement is a Chadian rebel alliance, made up of eight individual rebel groups, all with the goals of overthrowing the government of current Chadian President. It is now part of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development. UFDC...
(FUC) rebel alliance, founded in December 2005 and under the presidency of Mahamat Nour Abdelkerim.
On January 19, 2006, Abdelwahid was arrested, along with nineteen other rebels, after participating in an interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
to Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...
in the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese capital of Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
, in which he stated that "FUC's relations with the Sudanese government are friendly - very close", and argued that this was in line with the tradition under which successive Chadian rebellions had seized power with some degree of support from Khartoum. The Sudanese government repeatedly denied the accusation of Chadian President Idriss Déby
Idriss Déby
General Idriss Déby Itno is the President of Chad and the head of the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Déby is of the Bidyat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. He added "Itno" to his surname in January 2006.-Rise to power:...
that the Sudanese government was providing financial and material support to the FUC. He was released from jail shortly after. His arrest was denounced by the Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
-based human rights organization RADDHO.
Abdelwahid organized in April together with Nour the attack on the capital
Battle of N'Djamena
The Battle of N'Djamena was a battle between the forces of the revolutionary United Front for Democratic Change and the military of Chad that occurred on 13 April 2006 when rebel forces launched an assault on the capital of Chad in the pre-dawn hours, attempting to overthrow the government of...
, which ended in a defeat for the rebels. During those days Déby arrested for fear of collusion with the rebels the general Ahmat Fadoul Makaye, the Chadian army's Deputy Chief of Staff and cousin of Abdelwahid. He was cleared of all suspicions and freed three days later. The latter was removed on September 26 with Issa Moussa Tamboulé from the FUC's political bureau; he was allegedly suspected of secretly plotting with the Déby government. Around the same time Abdelwahid, who represented an Arab faction increasingly hostile to Nour since his failed attack, using his position of secretary-general destituted Nour.
Following this, Abdelwahid with a group of FUC dissidents united with Acheikh ibn Oumar
Acheikh ibn Oumar
Acheikh ibn Oumar is a Chadian politician and military leader. In the 1980s he led the Democratic Revolutionary Council , a military-political group opposing the government of President Hissène Habré....
's Democratic Revolutionary Council (CDR) and Mahamat Nouri
Mahamat Nouri
General Mahamat Nouri is a Chadian insurgent leader who currently commands the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development . A Muslim from northern Chad, he began his career as a FROLINAT rebel, and when the group's Second Army split in 1976 he sided with his kinsman Hissène Habré...
's Union of Forces for Progress and Democracy (UFPD) to found on October 22 the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development
Union of Forces for Democracy and Development
The Union of Forces for Democracy and Development is the largest group of Chadian rebel forces opposed to current President Idriss Déby...
(UFDD).
In April 2007, a major crisis shook the UFDD, when the Vice-President Acheikh ibn Oumar demanded Nouri a major role to his men in movement's apparatus. Nouri refused and expelled Acheikh and consolidated the control of his ethnic group, the Gorane, over the UFDD
After Acheikh, also Abdelwahid, anxious to retake his freedom of movement from Nouri, left the UFDD and founded in May with Acheikh a new armed group, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development-Fundamental (UFDD-F), an Arab-dominated group estimated to count on about 500 militians.
Abdelwahid took part to the peace talks held through Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n mediation in Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
between the Chadian government and the leaders of four rebel movements, the UFDD with Nouri, the Rassemblement des Forces pour le Changement (RFC) with Timane Erdimi
Timane Erdimi
Timane Erdimi is the leader of the Chadian rebel group Rally of Democratic Forces which had 800 soldiers in early 2008. He is a member of the ethnic group Zaghawa and nephew of the Chadian President Idriss Déby.An international arrest warrant was issued by Chad for Erdimi in 2007...
, The Chadian National Concord with Hassan Saleh al-Djinedi and the UFDD-F. At the beginning of the talks on June 23, Abdelwahid stated that the "problem is mostly of a constitutional order", adding that they "demand a revision of the constitution
Constitution of Chad
The Constitution of the Republic of Chad is the supreme law of Chad. Adopted in 1996, six years after President Idriss Déby rose to power following a successful rebellion against President Hissène Habré, this formal document establishes the framework of the Chadian state and government and...
to reopen the road to transition". An important stage in the talks was reached on October 3 when the government and the four rebel groups signed an accord in Tripoli on power-sharing in the government and the integration of the rebel forces in the Chadian army
Military of Chad
The Military of Chad consists of the Armed Forces , Republican Guard, Rapid Intervention Force, Police, and National and Nomadic Guard...
. Among the rebel leaders, Abdelwahid was the only one to call the paper signed a "definitive accord", while the others only considered it provisional. Due to the latters objection the four rebel leaders signed on October 25 a new accord in Surt, presumed to be definitive, under which the armed movements would disarm in November and become political parties.
The accord was broken already on November 26, giving way to violent fighting between the rebels and the government. In December, due to Sudanese pressures, reapproached himself to Nouri and Erdimi, forming with them in mid-December a Unified Military Command with Abderahman Koulamallah as spokesman. Abdelwahit claimed that after his bases within Sudan were attacked twice by the Chad Air Force
Chad Air Force
The Chadian Air Force, in French Force Aérienne Tchadienne, was formed in 1961 as the Escadrille Nationale Tchadienne , and was given its current name in 1973...
, first on December 28 and later on January 6, 2008.
By the end of January, the three rebels leaders put on the ground 3,000 men for an attack on the capital to deal onca and for all with Déby. The forces reach the capital, but are defeated
Battle of N'Djamena (2008)
The Battle of N'Djamena began on February 2, 2008 when Chadian rebel forces opposed to Chadian President Idriss Déby entered N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, after a three-day advance through the country. The rebels were initially successful, taking a large part of the city and attacking the heavily...
after a battle that leaves 160 dead on the ground, forcing the rebels to retreat.