R 221525Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 7018
INFO AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY PARIS

UNCLAS NDJAMENA 000249 
 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C, AF/EPS AND EB 
ALSO FOR USAID AFR/WA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL TBIO CD
SUBJECT: CHAD'S DINOSAUR POPULATION DIMINISHED BY ONE 
 
¶1. Chad's political class, comprised of an amorphous group of 
middle-aged bureaucrats and progeny of traditional chiefs 
representing ethnicities rather than ideologies, and an aging 
group of weathered politicians affectionately referred to as 
"the dinosaurs," was recently diminished with the June 12 
passing of Chad's second president, General Felix Malloum, at 
the American hospital in Neuilly, France.  Although Malloum 
had already removed himself from political activity since 
1979, he played a key role in the transition of southern to 
northern-dominated rule in Chad and has, since then, earned 
the respect of many Chadians more for the way he conducted 
himself while out of office than for the four brief years he 
was in.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  General Felix Malloum served as Chad's second president 
from 1975-79.  He was thrust into power following the April 
13, 1975 assassination of President Ngarta Tombalbaye by a 
group of young army officers who objected, among other 
things, to the arbitrary arrest two years earlier in 1973, of 
several fellow officers.  Malloum had been among those 
arrested in June 1973 for allegedly participating in "the 
black sheep plot."  At that time, President Tombalbaye was 
pushing his "authenticity" agenda encouraging Chadians to 
return to their African roots through the introduction of new 
nomenclature, changes in the wording of salutations, and 
forced initiations, while at the same time wrestling with 
paranoid visions of his removal from office.  When a 
prominent female politician buried a black sheep across the 
river from Chad's capital in Kousseri, Cameroon with the 
alleged purpose of regime change, she was arrested; Malloum, 
accused of complicity, soon followed.  A group of young 
officers, led by Chad's current Defense Minister (another 
dinosaur), General Kamougue Wadal Abdelkadre, invested the 
presidential palace April 13, 1975 and assassinated 
Tombalbaye.  Malloum was thereupon liberated from his prison 
cell and thrust into the head of state position a month later. 
 
¶3. His four-year period of power marks the transition phase 
between the southern-dominated post-independence government 
of President Tombalbaye and the nothern-dominated governments 
of presidents Goukouni, Habre and Deby which ensued from 
violent regime change.  Though unable to prevent the outbreak 
of hostilities in 1979, referred to in the vernacular as "la 
guerre de Malloum" (Malloum's War), Malloum is given high 
marks by many observers and witnesses to this turbulent 
period as a peace-maker who was sincere in his reconciliation 
efforts with the northern-led FROLINAT insurgency.  The 1978 
Khartoum Accords, for example, brought Habre out of the 
rebellion and into the government as Chad's first Prime 
Minister.  Given the latter's political ambitions, this 
gesture proved nothing less than opening the gates of Troy. 
 
¶4.  Another costly Malloum error was his September 1975 
demand that French troops be withdrawn from Chad following 
the French government's direct negotiations with Chadian 
rebels holding hostage French anthropologist, Francoise 
Claustre.  Malloum later requested the French military's 
return in 1978 to turn back a FROLINAT offensive, which it 
succeeded in doing; at some point, however, the French 
military shifted its support to Habre's rebellion, a policy 
at odds with the Elysee and with the French Ambassador. 
During the cease-fire period that followed allowing for peace 
talks and power-brokering on the part of Nigeria, Malloum 
resigned as Chad's president and took up residence in Lagos 
where he remained until 2002 when repeated efforts from 
President Deby resulted in his return to Chad.  During his 23 
years of exile, Malloum reportedly followed events in Chad 
closely but never commented on them.  Upon his return to 
Chad, he was named by President Deby to a Council of Elders 
but continued to remain aloof of politics. 
 
¶5.  Most of the testimonials that have been published since 
the June 12 announcement of Malloum's death in France focus 
on his character.  The qualities of restraint and reserve, 
calmness of demeanor, modesty, and measured language appear 
repeatedly.  A current opposition figure also emanating from 
the dinosaur era, Lol Mahamat Choua, eulogized Malloum as 
being "extremely calm, modest, I'd almost say taciturn...the 
quintessential military officer who rarely opens his mouth, 
but when he does, speaks well and honestly...Destiny made him 
Head of State, but I can assure you, nothing could have been 
further from his wishes."  Malloum was the product of French 
training, having attended several military academies and 
serving in French Indochina.  He rapidly moved his way up the 
ranks and was considered a model officer.  When thrust into 
the limelight from his prison cell, he was unable to turn 
back the mounting wave of northern rebellion in Chad but 
later showed how a fallen leader can continue to lead out a 
life of honor and dignity through discipline and restraint. 
 
 
BREMNER