Acyl Ahmat Agbas
Encyclopedia
Ahmat Acyl was a Chad
ian Arab
insurgent leader during the Chadian Civil War
.
, Acyl had been a National Assembly
deputy from Batha
. In 1976 he passed to the insurgency, entering in Libya
in the small Arab-dominated Volcan Army
. With the support of Muammar al-Gaddafi
, Libya's President, he opposed the group's leader Mohamed Baghlani
, and when the latter died in a traffic accident in Tripoli
in 1977, Acyl was promptly designed new leader of the militia. From that moment, he was known as Qaddafi's man in Chad.
Acyl rapidly strengthened his militia, which became famous for the quality of its fighters and imposed itself on the Chadian checker, garnering increasing support among the Arab
element in the country. Important was also Libya's support to Acyl's group, that from 1978 became bigger and steadier than that to the other insurgent factions. In the same year Acyl had supported Libya's gol to reunite the FROLINAT
's main factions, that resulted in the congress of Faya
in which Goukouni Oueddei
, leader of the People's Armed Forces
(FAP), was made new secretary-general of the FROLINAT. The accord didn't last long: Gaddafi instigated Acyl to attack Goukouni Oueddei
's People's Armed Forces
(FAP) positions in Faya on August 27, 1978, in an attempt to wrestle from Goukouni the control of the FROLINAT, but was defeated. Acyl, that was at the time the FROLINAT's adjutant chief of staff in charge of the direction and administration of the military, promptly left Faya for Tripoli under the protection of Libyan troops.
that erupted in February 1979, which caused the downfall of any form of government in Chad. Also for this he was overlooked at the first international peace conference held in March in Kano
, in Nigeria
; here the main militias accorded themselves
for creating a government of national unity, which would exclude all pro-Libyan factions.
As a reaction Acyl and other insurgent leaders such as Abba Siddick
, Adoum Dana and Mohamat Said, menaced to create a counter-government; this was enough to cow Nigeria in organizing in April a second peace conference in Kano, in which all main rebel leaders were present, Acyl among them. The conference saw Goukouni and Habré
attacking Acyl and the other faction leaders, whom they accused of having no real military strength on the ground. The partecipants to the conference were unable to reach any agreement on the formation of the cabinet, and a few weeks later Habré and Goukouni unilaterally agreed with the N'Djamena Accord to exclude Acyl and his allies from the new Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT). In their view, Acyl was just "a Libyan provocateur".
The increasingly chaotic situation in Chad brought Nigeria to convene in May a third reconciliation conference, this time held in Lagos
, to which all factions were invited. In response, Acyl and others arrived, but discovered that the factions that formed the GUNT had boycotted the meeting, causing the failure of the conference. Acyl now, with Said and Siddick, created on June 2 in northern Chad with Libyan military support a new political subject under Acyl's leadership, the Front for Joint Provvisional Action (FACP).
Amid rumors that Libya and Nigeria might recognize the FACP as Chad's legitimate government, the GUNT was given five weeks by the international community to coopt the other factions in the government. At the end, the GUNT submitted, and its factions participated to a second peace conference in Lagos, open to all parties. The result of the summit was the Lagos Accord
, signed on August 21, under which a national unity government
was to be formed. The new cabinet was sworn into office on November 10, with Goukouni Oueddei as chaiman and Acyl as Foreign Minister.
On March 20, 1980 the Defence Minister Habré rallied with Egypt
ian and Sudan
ese support his militia, the Armed Forces of the North
, in an attempt to overthrow Goukouni, giving way to the second battle of N'Djamena, which pitched Habré's men against the factions led by Goukouni, Acyl and the vice-president Kamougué
. To defeat his rival Goukouni, probably persuaded by Acyl, signed on June 15 a defence pact with Libya; as a result 7,000 Libyan troops and 7,000 members of the Libyan-raised Islamic Legion
were in Chad by the end of 1980, and helped expelling Habré from N'Djamena
on December 16, after a week of harsh fighting.
This was followed on January 6, 1981 by a joint communiqué issued by Goukouni and Gaddafi, that stated that Chad and Libya had agreed to "work for the realization of complete unity between the two countries". The comuniqué, while strongly supported by Acyl and his faction, had a negative international response, and was also unpopular in Chad; Goukouni was know seen as a Libyan puppet. Relations between Goukouni and Gaddafi became strained, possibly because of rumors that Gaddafi was instigating a coup d'état
against Goukouni, to replace him with Acyl. Goukouni's suspicions of plans to replace him with Acyl had been fuelled previously by the assassination by Libyans of two senior FROLINAT officials, and the clashes among the First Army and Acyl's CDR.
Consequently, when, on October 22, French President François Mitterrand
proposed to send an Organisation of African Unity peace contingent into Chad to replace the Libyans, Goukouni and the GUNT asked the Libyans to leave immediately Chad (not without debate: 4 ministers, among whom Acyl, voted against the decision). Gaddafi rapidly complied, and the OAU troops; but these proved ineffectual.
Taking advantage of the Libyans' departure, Habré attacked in 1982 the GUNT, advancing across central Chad from his bases in Darfur
, and occupied N'Djamena with hardly any opposition on June 7, forcing the GUNT to flee. A month later, on July 19, Acyl died in the southwestern town of Laï
when he inadvertently stepped backwards into the spinning propellers of his Cessna
aeroplane, a gift from Gaddafi. He was succeeded as leader of the CDR militia by the former Defence Minister Acheick ibn Oumar.
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 Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
insurgent leader during the 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,...
.
In the Volcan Army
Under the Tombalbaye RegimeThe Tombalbaye Regime
President François Tombalbaye faced a task of considerable magnitude when Chad became a sovereign state in 1960. His challenge was to build a nation out of a vast and diverse territory that had poor communications, few known resources, a tiny market, and a collection of impoverished people with...
, Acyl had been a National Assembly
National Assembly of Chad
The National Assembly is the parliament of Chad. It has 155 members, elected for a four year term in 25 single-member constituencies and 34 multi-member constituencies.-See also:*List of Presidents of the National Assembly of Chad...
deputy from Batha
Batha Prefecture
This article refers to one of the former prefectures of Chad. From 2002 the country was divided into 18 regions.Batha was one of the 14 prefectures of Chad. Located in the center of the country, Batha covered an area of 88,800 square kilometers and had a population of 288,458 in 1993. Its capital...
. In 1976 he passed to the insurgency, entering in 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....
in the small Arab-dominated Volcan Army
Volcan Army
The Volcan Army was a Chadian insurgent rebel group that was active during the Chadian Civil War. The movement was founded in 1970 by the Arab insurgent leader Mohamed Baghlani, who had been expelled in June from the FROLINAT by the organization's secretary-general Abba Siddick...
. With the support of Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
, Libya's President, he opposed the group's leader Mohamed Baghlani
Mohamed Baghlani
Mohamed Baghlani was a Chadian insurgent leader during the Chadian Civil War.-Formation of FROLINAT:Baghlani was the most prominent Arab member of the Chadian National Union , an Islamic political party founded in 1958 and officially banned by the government of Chad in 1962. It survived as an...
, and when the latter died in a traffic accident 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...
in 1977, Acyl was promptly designed new leader of the militia. From that moment, he was known as Qaddafi's man in Chad.
Acyl rapidly strengthened his militia, which became famous for the quality of its fighters and imposed itself on the Chadian checker, garnering increasing support among the Arab
Baggara
The Baggāra Arabs are a set of communities inhabiting the portion of Africa's Sahel between Lake Chad and southern Kordofan, numbering over one million. They have a common language which is one of the regional colloquial Arabic languages...
element in the country. Important was also Libya's support to Acyl's group, that from 1978 became bigger and steadier than that to the other insurgent factions. In the same year Acyl had supported Libya's gol to reunite the FROLINAT
FROLINAT
-Origins:The organization was born as the result of a political union between the leftist Chadian National Union , led by Ibrahim Abatcha, and the General Union of the Children of Chad which was led by Ahmed Hassan Musa. Musa was close to the Muslim Brotherhood and was an Islamist...
's main factions, that resulted in the congress of Faya
Faya-Largeau
Located in the Sahara, Faya's climate is classed as hot desert on the Köppen climate classification. It experiences hot winters and very hot summers with the peak average maximum temperature reaching in May and the average minimum reaching its lowest in January at . Rainfall averages out at about...
in which 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:...
, leader of the People's Armed Forces
People's Armed Forces
The People's Armed Forces was a Chadian insurgent group composed of followers of Goukouni Oueddei after the schism with Hissène Habré in 1976...
(FAP), was made new secretary-general of the FROLINAT. The accord didn't last long: Gaddafi instigated Acyl to attack 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:...
's People's Armed Forces
People's Armed Forces
The People's Armed Forces was a Chadian insurgent group composed of followers of Goukouni Oueddei after the schism with Hissène Habré in 1976...
(FAP) positions in Faya on August 27, 1978, in an attempt to wrestle from Goukouni the control of the FROLINAT, but was defeated. Acyl, that was at the time the FROLINAT's adjutant chief of staff in charge of the direction and administration of the military, promptly left Faya for Tripoli under the protection of Libyan troops.
Commander of the CDR
Acyl's faction, renamed Revolutionary Democratic Council (CDR) at the beginning of 1979, did not participate in the battle of N'DjamenaBattle 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...
that erupted in February 1979, which caused the downfall of any form of government in Chad. Also for this he was overlooked at the first international peace conference held in March in Kano
Kano
Kano is a city in Nigeria and the capital of Kano State in Northern Nigeria. Its metropolitan population is the second largest in Nigeria after Lagos. The Kano Urban area covers 137 sq.km and comprises six Local Government Area - Kano Municipal, Fagge, Dala, Gwale, Tarauni and Nassarawa - with a...
, in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
; here the main militias accorded themselves
Kano Accord
The Kano Accord was preceded by the collapse of central authority in Chad in 1979, when the Prime Minister Hissène Habré had unleashed on February 12 his militias against the capital N'Djamena and the president Félix Malloum...
for creating a government of national unity, which would exclude all pro-Libyan factions.
As a reaction Acyl and other insurgent leaders such as Abba Siddick
Abba Siddick
Abba Siddick is a Muslim Chadian politician and revolutionary born in what was the Oubangui-Chari French colony . In passing in Chad , he entered in active politics in the Chadian Progressive Party , a nationalist and radical African political party founded in 1947 and led by Gabriel Lisette...
, Adoum Dana and Mohamat Said, menaced to create a counter-government; this was enough to cow Nigeria in organizing in April a second peace conference in Kano, in which all main rebel leaders were present, Acyl among them. The conference saw Goukouni and Habré
Hissène Habré
Hissène Habré , also spelled Hissen Habré, was the leader of Chad from 1982 until he was deposed in 1990.-Early life:...
attacking Acyl and the other faction leaders, whom they accused of having no real military strength on the ground. The partecipants to the conference were unable to reach any agreement on the formation of the cabinet, and a few weeks later Habré and Goukouni unilaterally agreed with the N'Djamena Accord to exclude Acyl and his allies from the new Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT). In their view, Acyl was just "a Libyan provocateur".
The increasingly chaotic situation in Chad brought Nigeria to convene in May a third reconciliation conference, this time held in Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
, to which all factions were invited. In response, Acyl and others arrived, but discovered that the factions that formed the GUNT had boycotted the meeting, causing the failure of the conference. Acyl now, with Said and Siddick, created on June 2 in northern Chad with Libyan military support a new political subject under Acyl's leadership, the Front for Joint Provvisional Action (FACP).
Amid rumors that Libya and Nigeria might recognize the FACP as Chad's legitimate government, the GUNT was given five weeks by the international community to coopt the other factions in the government. At the end, the GUNT submitted, and its factions participated to a second peace conference in Lagos, open to all parties. The result of the summit was the Lagos Accord
Lagos Accord
The Lagos Accord was a peace agreement signed on August 21, 1979 by representatives of eleven warring factions of the Chadian Civil War, after a conference in Lagos, Nigeria. The accord established the procedures for setting up the Transitional Government of National Unity , which was sworn into...
, signed on August 21, under which a national unity government
National unity government
A national unity government, government of national unity, or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency.- Canada :During World War I the Conservative government of Sir...
was to be formed. The new cabinet was sworn into office on November 10, with Goukouni Oueddei as chaiman and Acyl as Foreign Minister.
On March 20, 1980 the Defence Minister Habré rallied with Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian and 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 support his militia, the Armed Forces of the North
Armed Forces of the North
The Armed Forces of the North was a Chadian rebel army active during the Chadian Civil War. Composed of FROLINAT units that remained loyal to Hissène Habré following his break from Goukouni Oueddei and the CCFAN in 1976...
, in an attempt to overthrow Goukouni, giving way to the second battle of N'Djamena, which pitched Habré's men against the factions led by Goukouni, Acyl and the vice-president Kamougué
Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué
Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué was a Chadian politician and former army officer. Kamougué was a leading figure in the 1975 coup d'état and since then he has held several positions in the Chadian government and legislature. He was Vice-President from 1979 to 1982 and was President of the National...
. To defeat his rival Goukouni, probably persuaded by Acyl, signed on June 15 a defence pact with Libya; as a result 7,000 Libyan troops and 7,000 members of the Libyan-raised Islamic Legion
Islamic Legion
The Islamic Legion was a Libyan-sponsored pan-Arab paramilitary force, created in 1972...
were in Chad by the end of 1980, and helped expelling Habré from N'Djamena
N'Djamena
N'Djamena is the capital and largest city of Chad. A port on the Chari River, near the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, to which the city is connected by a bridge. It is also a special statute region, divided in 10 arrondissements. It is a...
on December 16, after a week of harsh fighting.
This was followed on January 6, 1981 by a joint communiqué issued by Goukouni and Gaddafi, that stated that Chad and Libya had agreed to "work for the realization of complete unity between the two countries". The comuniqué, while strongly supported by Acyl and his faction, had a negative international response, and was also unpopular in Chad; Goukouni was know seen as a Libyan puppet. Relations between Goukouni and Gaddafi became strained, possibly because of rumors that Gaddafi was instigating a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
against Goukouni, to replace him with Acyl. Goukouni's suspicions of plans to replace him with Acyl had been fuelled previously by the assassination by Libyans of two senior FROLINAT officials, and the clashes among the First Army and Acyl's CDR.
Consequently, when, on October 22, French President François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
proposed to send an Organisation of African Unity peace contingent into Chad to replace the Libyans, Goukouni and the GUNT asked the Libyans to leave immediately Chad (not without debate: 4 ministers, among whom Acyl, voted against the decision). Gaddafi rapidly complied, and the OAU troops; but these proved ineffectual.
Taking advantage of the Libyans' departure, Habré attacked in 1982 the GUNT, advancing across central Chad from his bases in Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
, and occupied N'Djamena with hardly any opposition on June 7, forcing the GUNT to flee. A month later, on July 19, Acyl died in the southwestern town of Laï
Laï
Laï is a city in Chad, the capital of the region of Tandjilé. The town is served by Laï Airport.-References:...
when he inadvertently stepped backwards into the spinning propellers of his Cessna
Cessna
The Cessna Aircraft Company is an airplane manufacturing corporation headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Their main products are general aviation aircraft. Although they are the most well known for their small, piston-powered aircraft, they also produce business jets. The company is a subsidiary...
aeroplane, a gift from Gaddafi. He was succeeded as leader of the CDR militia by the former Defence Minister Acheick ibn Oumar.