Deby, Idriss (1952- )

Chadian soldier and politician, president from 1990. As founder and leader of the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), Deby seized power in an armed coup. His presidency was constitutionally endorsed when he won Chad's first democratic presidential election in July 1996. He was re-elected in May 2001.

Deby was born in eastern Chad, and joined the army at the age of 20, later training as a pilot in France. He returned to Chad in 1978 and supported Hissene Habré's opposition to President Goukouni, enabling Habré to come to power in 1982. Deby then became commander-in-chief of the armed forces and military adviser to President Habré, but fled the country in 1989 after being accused of plotting a coup. He founded MPS in 1990 and, from a base in Sudan, ousted Habré at the end of the same year, making himself interim head of state. He promised an eventual return to civilian rule, and in 1994 signed a treaty of friendship with Col Khaddhafi of Libya. He was elected president in July 1996 under a new multiparty constitution, based on the French dual-executive model.