Félix Malloum

Félix Malloum ( Arabic فليكس معلوم, DMG Filīks Mʿalūm , born September 13, 1932 in Sarh ; † June 12, 2009 in Paris ) was President of Chad from 1975 to 1979 .

soldier

Malloum, who came from a Christian family in southern Chad, embarked on a military career and reached the rank of colonel . In 1971 the then President François Tombalbaye appointed him Chief of Staff of the Army . In 1973 he was accused of conspiracy against the president and imprisoned. Malloum was henceforth an opponent of the president.

president

On April 13, 1975, President Tombalbaye was murdered by soldiers and Malloum, now general , was installed as the new president two days later. He formed a new government that included civilians as well as the military. He promised a policy of reconciliation, but was unable to end the civil war that had been raging for years. Under Malloum relations with Libya initially improved , while relations with France cooled. In the course of 1976, Malloum moved closer to France again under pressure from the Libyan-backed rebels in northern France. On March 31, 1977 a rebellion by parts of the army against Malloum failed.

In 1978 he signed a peace treaty with the leader of the Forces Armées du Nord , a breakaway from the FROLINAT rebels, Hissène Habré . Habré was appointed prime minister, but refused to disarm his troops or integrate them into the central government's army. The civil war that flared up again was ended in 1979 through a new peace treaty with the mediation of several African states. Malloum's government had meanwhile lost control of much of the country and was only able to assert itself in a small area in the south. On March 19, 1979, Malloum resigned and handed over the presidency to Goukouni Oueddei .

Exile and homecoming

Malloum went into exile in Nigeria , while the civil war in his homeland flared up again a little later.

After 23 years in exile, he returned to N'Djamena on May 31, 2002 and was warmly received by government officials. President Idriss Déby had promoted him to division general in March . Malloum was awarded all the perks of a former president.

literature

• Félix Malloum , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 25/1979 of June 11, 1979, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)