CHAD: DEBY SHAKES UP MILITARY LEADERSHIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L NDJAMENA 001672

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/C, AF/RSA, INR, AND DRL; LONDON AND
PARIS FOR AFRICAWATCHERS;

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM MARR MOPS CD
SUBJECT: CHAD: DEBY SHAKES UP MILITARY LEADERSHIP

REF: A. NDJAMENA 1668

B. NDJAMENA 1583

C. NDJAMENA IIR 6 910 0025

Classified By: Political/Economic Officer Kathleen FitzGibbon for reaso
ns 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. President Idriss Deby carried out a
military shake-up on November 15. The changes include the
chiefs of the Armed Forces, Gendarmerie, Nomadic Guard, and
National Police. The most surprising change was the removal
of Deby relative, General Mahamat Saleh Ibrahim, who had
served as Nomadic Guard Commandant since Deby came to power.
Two weeks earlier, the Government announced the dissolution
of the Presidential Guard and replaced it with a new
presidential security force. Many of the newly-appointed
commanders are relatives of Deby, the new Armed Forces chief
Tirgo, and the new Gendarmerie Commander. These changes come
in the aftermath of military desertions over the past two
months and represent an attempt to weed out disloyal officers
and instill some discipline into the military. End Summary.


2. (C) On November 15, two days after attacks on two
military installations, the Government of Chad announced
changes within the top ranks of the military leadership.
(Ref A) Deby dismissed Armed Forces Chief Mahamat Saleh Kaya
and replaced him with the former director of the Gendarmerie
Banayanan Kossingar, who was promoted from colonel to general
in order to assume the position. Kaya's removal came as no
surprise after he refused to fire on the military deserters
in the east and persuaded Deby to negotiate instead. (Ref B)
One general who was offered the position told P/E officer on
November 16 that he refused the job. In his opinion, Deby
had to reach down to find someone that he could trust and
that Banayanan is a tough, no-nonsense professional who can
be counted on to do a good job. Embassy officers have had a
strong working relationship with Banayanan in his capacity as
gendarme chief. Kaya was named as a military advisor in the
Presidency.


3. (C) The more surprising move was Deby's replacement of
his uncle, Mahamat Saleh Ibrahim, who was the Commandant of
the Nomadic Guard with an ethnic Gorane, Colonel Moussa
Sougui Haware. Ibrahim was considered Deby's most loyal
family and military member, who according to a Deby family
member, usually keeps his opinions to himself. He recently
disagreed with Deby over the path the country was on and paid
for it with his job.


4. (C) Presidential military advisor Moussa Haroun Tirgo was
named the director of the National Police. Another family
source said that this appointment may have been made so that
Tirgo is also in charge of police intelligence, which Deby
may now consider essential to his ability to remain in power.
The new Gendarmerie Commander is Tirgo's cousin, Col. Abakar
Abdelkerim Daoud. Another Deby relative, Colonel Abakar
Youssouf Mahamat Itno was moved from the now defunct
Presidential Guard Commander to the position of Army Chief.


5. (C) Many of the newly appointed regional military and
gendarmerie commanders are related to Deby, Tirgo, or the
newly-appointed Gendarmerie Commander Abakar Abdelkerim
Daoud. There are more ethnic Goranes in key positions.
Another important appointment was that of Colonel Mahamat
Souleyman Ousmane as the regional military commander for the
Lake Chad area. An ethnic Zaghawa, he has a reputation for
being exceptionally brutal and reportedly may have served
prison time in the United States for murder.


6. (C) The change in military leadership follows on the
heels of the dissolution of the Republican Guard and its
replacement with the Direction Generale de Service and
Securite des Institutions de l'Etat (DGSSIE). The DGSSIE was
created to provide security for the President and other high
level government officials and to defend "independence,
national unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity" of
Chad. The DGSSIE will have 1,640 personnel and is attached
to the Presidency and commanded by officers nominated by the
President by decree.


7. (C) Meanwhile, the Government continues its
investigation into the attacks on the two military
installations earlier in the week. The Government said that
it has arrested some of the participants. Human rights
groups are telling us that some of those arrested have
already been executed by order of the President. A retired

general has told us that former Nomadic Guard Commander
Mahamat Saleh Ibrahim's name has been circulated as being
possibly complicit in the attacks. His bodyguards are being
held. In addition, a former Deby ally, Loum Hinansou Laina,
is also under suspicion of having supported the deserters as
is the youngest brother of Prime Minister Pascal Yoadimnadji.
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COMMENT
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8. (C) Deby's doubts about the military's loyalty and
subsequent military shake-up come as no surprise in the
aftermath of recent military desertions and attacks on
military installations. He appears to have put loyal
officers, many of them relatives and ethnic Gorane, in key
positions. Their immediate challenge is to stabilize the
security situation. Nonetheless, the removal of Mahamat
Saleh Ibrahim could cause him more family problems in the
future if he does not find an acceptable position for him.
TAMLYN


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