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Overview

Chad has been plagued by poor development, human rights abuses and almost uninterrupted conflict since independence. As the 12th poorest country in the world, Chad is regularly placed among the most corrupt countries on Transparency International’s corruption perception index and is second only to Somalia on Foreign Policy’s Failed States Index. Further complicating its prospects for peace and stability, Chad has had to deal with the spillover from the Darfur crisis in neighboring Sudan, placing enormous pressure on its limited natural resources with the arrival of 220,000 refugees, and destabilizing the region with frequent incursions by Arab militia and Chadian rebels from Sudan. The most promising economic development for Chad is oil. This decade the country began pumping petroleum from its previously untapped underground supplies, thanks to help from friendly foreign oil companies, including ExxonMobil and Chevron. Oil is the primary trade connection between the United States and Chad. The US also has provided the Chadian government, which has been the focus of numerous coups and human rights complaints, with millions of dollars in military aid.

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Basic Information

Lay of the Land: In north central Africa, Chad rises from an elevation of 750 feet at Lake Chad in the west to almost 12,000 feet in the northern Tibesti Mountains. The heavy rains of the southern and central regions drain into Lake Chad, but the northern region is a desert.

Population: 10.1 million

Religions: Muslim (Sufi/Tijaniyah) 53.1%, Christian 25.2%, Ethnoreligious 16.6%, Muslim (Wahhabism and Salafism) 4.2%, Baha'i 0.8%.

Ethnic Groups: Sara 27.7%, Arab 12.3%, Mayo-Kebbi 11.5%, Kanem-Bornou 9%, Ouaddai 8.7%, Hadjarai 6.7%, Tandjile 6.5%, Gorane 6.3%, Fitri-Batha 4.7%, other 6.4%.

Languages: Chadian Arabic 8.0%, Ngambay 7.9%, Kanembu 4.1%, Dazaga 3.0%, Maba 2.6%, Naba 2.4%, Sar 1.9%, Musey 1.8%, Gulay 1.7%, Mundang 1.7%, Fulfulde (Adamawa, Bagirmi, Kano-Katsina-Borroro) 1.6%, Marba 1.3%, Masana 1.1%, Central Kanuri 1.0%, French (official) 0.01%, Arabic (official). There are 132 living languages in Chad.

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History

According to archeological evidence, Chad’s history dates back 3 million years. In ancient times, the Saharan region was not entirely arid, and the population was more evenly distributed. Water was plentiful, and residents lived and farmed there. Although ancient cliff paintings in Borkou and Ennedi depict elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, cattle, and camels, only camels still survive in Chad.

Since the late Middle Ages, traders and geographers have come to Chad, which served as a crossroads for Muslims living in the desert and savannas, as well as for the Bantu tribes of the tropical forests.

The Sao people were settled along the Chari River for many thousands of years but could not hold onto their territory. Powerful chiefs, of what would later become the Kanem-Bornu and Baguirmi kingdoms, along with the kingdom of Ouaddai, dominated the area, and at their peak they controlled a large part of Chad, Nigeria and Sudan.

From 1500 to 1900, Arabs raided Chad to find slaves. The French followed suit, sending military expeditions in 1891. On April 22, 1900, French Major Amédée-François Lamy and Sudanese leader Rabih az-Zubayr engaged in the first known colonial battle for the region and were both killed. The French won the battle, but unrest reigned until 1911.

In 1905, the French established a governor general in Brazzaville (in what is now Congo), with administrative responsibility over Chad. The country joined forces with the French colonies of Gabon, Oubangui-Charo and Moyen Congo to form the Federation of French Equatorial Africa (AEF) in 1910, but it was not granted colonial status until 1920.

The French occupied the northern part of Chad in 1914, and in 1959, French Equatorial Africa was dissolved. The four states that made up French Equatorial Africa—Gabon, the Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville) and Chad—became autonomous members of the French Community. Chad became an independent nation on August 11, 1960. The country elected its first president, François Tombalbaye, shortly thereafter.

Beginning in 1965, Chad endured a long civil war, which arose because of a revolt over taxes. The Muslim regions in the north and east of the country fought against the southern-led government. Although he received support from the French, Tombalbaye could not defeat the opposition forces. In response, he cracked down brutally. The harsh treatment led the Chad military to carry out a coup in 1975 and install Gen. Félix Malloum as president.

Malloum was a southerner, but added more northerners to his government in 1978. Some northern Chadians did not take kindly to this integration, and the northern prime minister, Hissène Habré, sent forces to combat the national army in the capital city of N'Djamena in February 1979. Soon, 11 factions emerged, and the civil war made the government ineffective and irrelevant.

Members of other African nations decided to intervene. Four international conferences held first under Nigerian and then Organization of African Unity (OAU) sponsorship attempted to bring the feuding factions together. At the fourth conference, held in Lagos, Nigeria, the Lagos Accord was signed in August 1979. This legislation established a transitional government before national elections.

In November 1979, the National Union Transition Government (GUNT) was created to govern for 18 months. Goukouni Oueddei, a northerner, was made president, Colonel Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué, a southerner, was made vice president, and Habré was made Minister of Defense. However, the government did not last long. In January 1980, fighting broke out between Goukouni’s and Habré’s forces. Goukouni received assistance from Libya and regained control of the capital. But his statement, made in January 1981, that Chad and Libya had agreed to work for unity generated much international pressure. Subsequently, Goukouni called for the complete withdrawal of all foreign forces.

Libya’s partial withdrawal to the Aouzou Strip in northern Chad cleared the way for Habré’s forces to enter N’Djamena in June 1981. Other forces remained neutral, including French troops, an OAU peacekeeping force of 3,500 Nigerian, Senegalese and Zairian troops (which were partially funded by the United States). Habré faced armed opposition on several fronts and responded by brutally massacring and torturing many people.

In the summer of 1983, GUNT forces launched an offensive against government positions in northern and eastern Chad, with Libyan support. Because the Libyans intervened, French and Zairian forces were deployed to defend Habré, who pushed the Libyan and rebel forces north of the 16th parallel. In September 1984, the French and Libyan governments agreed to withdraw forces from Chad. French and Zairian forces obeyed the agreement, but Libyan troops continued to occupy the northern third of Chad.

The government attacked rebel commando groups (CODO) in southern Chad in 1984, and in 1985, Habré briefly reconciled with some of his opponents. These included the Chadian Democratic Front and the Coordinating Action Committee of the Democratic Revolutionary Council. Goukouni joined with Habré and helped to expel the Libyan forces. A cease-fire was signed shortly thereafter and was upheld until 1988. Later, in 1994, the International Court of Justice granted Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou Strip, ending the Libyan occupation.

The rivalry between the Hadjerai, Zaghawa and Gorane (Daza) ethnic groups within the government grew in the late 1980s. In April 1989, Idriss Déby, one of Habré’s leading generals and a Zaghawa, defected and fled to Darfur. There, he mounted a Zaghawa-supported series of attacks on Habré. In December 1990, Déby’s forces, with the assistance of Libya, successfully attacked N'Djamena. He formed a provisional government, called Déby’s Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS). The group approved a national charter on February 28, 1991, with, not surprisingly, Déby as president.

Déby faced two coup attempts during the next two years. Government forces clashed violently with rebel forces—including the Movement for Democracy and Development (MDD), National Revival Committee for Peace and Democracy (CSNPD), Chadian National Front (FNT) and the Western Armed Forces (FAO)—near Lake Chad and in southern regions of the country.

Large-scale civilian killings in southern Chad continued, provoking unrest. The CSNPD, led by Kette Moise, and other southern groups, entered into a peace agreement with government forces in 1994. This later broke down, and two new groups, the Armed Forces for a Federal Republic (FARF) led by former Kette ally Laokein Bardé, and the Democratic Front for Renewal (FDR), clashed with government forces during 1994 and 1995.

Although all sides agreed to talks in 1996, no real progress was made. Déby announced his intention to hold presidential elections in June and won the first multi-party elections, defeating General Kamougué, who had led the 1975 coup against Tombalbaye. Thanks to widespread irregularities, Déby’s party also won 65 of the 125 seats in legislative elections held in January-February 1997.

The government signed peace deals with FARF and the MDD leadership in mid-1997 and cut off groups from the Central African Republic and Cameroon. Additional agreements were signed with the National Front of Chad (FNT) and Movement for Social Justice and Democracy in October 1997. Again, however, peace was short-lived. FARF rebels began to clash with government soldiers, but eventually surrendered in May 1998.

From 1998 to 2003, Chadian Movement for Justice and Democracy (MDJT) rebels skirmished periodically with government troops in the Tibesti region in the north, resulting in hundreds of civilian, government and rebel casualties. But another agreement was signed in 2003, which led to several hundred rebels rejoining the Chadian Army.

Elections held in May 2001 gave Déby winning a first-round victory, with 63% of the vote. Legislative elections were postponed until spring 2002. Irregularities resulted in the deaths of six opposition leaders and one opposition party activist, and although there were charges of corruption, favoritism and abuses by security forces, along with strikes by labor unions, no real changes came about.

In February 2003, the leader of a rebellion in neighboring Sudan was a Chadian named Abbaka. He was from the Zaghawa, a semi-nomadic people who live on the border between the two countries, and was sympathetic to his oppressed fellow Zaghawa in Sudan. Déby was aware that the conflict in Darfur had the potential to destabilize his country, so he was quick to back the Sudanese government in putting down the uprising. But this meant fighting against his own ethnic group. In May 2005 the Zaghawa contingent in the Chadian National Army revolted and insisted that Déby replace the chief of staff and the head of the security force with Zaghawas sympathetic to the rebellion in Darfur. These changes led to Chad switching allegiance and supporting the rebels in Darfur, which provoked a reaction from the Sudanese dictatorship in late 2005.

In May 2004, the Chadian National Assembly voted in favor of an amendment to the constitution that would allow President Déby to run again. The amendment was approved in a national referendum in June 2005, and it abolished presidential term limits. Since then, Déby has faced at least three coup attempts. In April 2006, the capital city of N’Djamena was attacked by the United Front for Democratic Change, which was led by the Tama ethnic group, coordinating with another Chadian rebel organization from President Déby’s Zaghawa ethnic group. The government succeeded in putting down the attacks.

On May 3, 2006, Déby was elected to his third presidential term, with a substantial majority of the vote (78%). More than 60% of Chad's 5.8 million registered voters cast ballots. On October 26, 2007, four Chadian rebel groups and the government of Chad signed a peace agreement. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi hosted the talks, which took place in the Libyan city of Sirte.

The peace was shattered, however, on February 2, 2008, when rebels backed by Sudan infiltrated N’Djamena, surrounded the Presidential Palace, forced the evacuation of US Embassy personnel and stalled the arrival of a peacekeeping presence. A cease-fire agreement was tentatively reached on February 5. On March 12, Chadian and Sudanese representatives met in Dakar, Senegal, and signed a peace accord agreeing that they would stop backing rebels hostile to each other. Following that agreement, Sudan accused Chad of continuing to back Sudanese rebels and then severed ties with Chad. While relations between the neighboring nations continued to deteriorate, Chad experienced further rebel attacks within its borders in June 2008.

The crisis in Darfur in neighboring Sudan has created a significant refugee problem for Chad. More than 200,000 Sudanese have settled along the Chad-Sudan border, placing great strains on Chadian economic and social systems.

Chad (CIA World Factbook)

Background Note: Chad (U.S. Department of State)

Libyan Intervention in Chad, 1980-Mid-1987 (GlobalSecurity.org)

Chad: Darfur Conflict Spills Across Border (Human Rights Watch)

Chad: caught in the Darfur crossfire (By Gérard Prunier, Le Monde diplomatique)

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Chad's Newspapers

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History of U.S. Relations with Chad

Currently, relations between the United States and Chad are described as “cordial.” The US has an embassy in N’Djamena, which was established in 1960. The US sent food and agricultural aid to remote areas of the country in the early 1970s, when drought threatened the population. The aid included grain, animal health services and technical assistance. Other agreements helped to build roads in the area of Lake Chad.

Since Chad was originally considered part of France, the US provided military assistance to the country until 1977. President Malloum requested military aid in 1978 to fight the FROLINAT insurgency. This coincided with an increase of activity by Soviet forces in Ethiopia and increased arms shipments to Libya.

The American embassy was closed from 1980 to the end of 1981 when fighting was heaviest in the capital city. The embassy reopened in January 1982, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Information Service (USIS) resumed activities in September 1983. During this time, American opposition to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi intensified, and instability in the region threatened US interests.

The United States increased aid to Chad consistently, but by 1988, American advisors began to stress reconciliation as the only real solution for the Chadian government. In addition to military aid, the US provided economic aid programs and training designed to improve the administration of the Hissène Habré and bolster public confidence in his government. In exchange, the US was to receive intelligence gathered as a result of Chad’s relationship with Libya.

USAID closed its Chad mission in 1995 because of declining funds and various security concerns. Up until then, its efforts concentrated on agriculture, health and infrastructure. It also helped to repair and maintain roads, provide for maternal and child health, famine early warning systems and agricultural marketing. AFRICARE continues to operate in Chad.

The Peace Corps also has had a large presence in Chad, with the largest number of volunteers serving from September 1987, after the war, through 1998.

Chad's Victory Over Libya Is Also a Victory for the U.S. (by Michael Radu and Daniel Pipes,
Wall Street Journal)

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Current U.S. Relations with Chad

Chad’s government under Idriss Déby has recently been helpful to the US in fighting global terrorism, and the country has provided shelter for approximately 250,000 refugees from Darfur, along the country’s eastern border.

The United States government’s stated foreign policy priorities in Chad include: ensuring Chad’s stability; assisting its democratic evolution and respect for human rights; achieving a sustainable solution to the refugee crisis in eastern Chad; strengthening Chad’s capacity to deal with terrorist threats and professionalizing the military; encouraging responsible management of oil revenues; improving stewardship of Chad’s land, water and forest resources; and supporting health and social programs.

Peace Corps volunteers returned to Chad in September 2003, and again in September 2004. Currently, the Peace Corps is inactive in Chad.

In 2005, 3,693 Americans visited Chad, a slight increase of 7.5% from the 3,433 visitors in 2004. Overall visits are down since 2002, when 4,913 Americans traveled to Chad.

In 2006, 335 Chadians visited the US, 4% less than the 349 that visited in 2005. The number of visits to the US has remained between 220 and 350 since 2002.

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Where Does the Money Flow

Oil exploitation in the southern Doba region of Chad began in June 2000, with ExxonMobil leading a consortium (that includes Chevron) in a $3.7 billion project to export oil via a 1,000-km pipeline through Cameroon to the Gulf of Guinea. Beginning in late 2000, development of Chad’s petroleum sector stimulated economic growth by attracting major investment and increased levels of US trade.

Prior to the recent development of Chad’s oil reserves, little trade occurred between the African country and the US. Today, the US imports more than $2 billion in crude oil annually from Chad. From 2003 to 2007, oil imports rose from $14.4 million to $2.1 billion. At the same time, fuel oil imports declined from $404 million in 2005 to $26 million in 2007

The largest export from the US to Chad is drilling and oil field equipment, averaging $38 million between 2003 and 2007. A distant second were food exports, such as sorghum, barley and oats ($6.9 million in 2007) and wheat ($5.1 million in 2006).

Overall, the US has quite a trade deficit with Chad, thanks to its oil imports. American exports in 2007 totaled $71.1 million while imports totaled $2.1 billion.

In 2006 the US gave $29.2 million in aid to Chad. The largest recipient programs were Crisis Assistance and Recovery ($23.5 million) and Explosive Remnants of War ($2.4 million). Chad was Africa’s third leading purchaser of US defense articles and services in 2006, buying $2 million worth, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Imports from Chad

Exports to Chad

Chad: Security Assistance

Congressional Budget for Foreign Operations (pages 212-214) (PDF)

US Arms Sales: Agreements with and Deliveries to Major Clients, 1999-2006 (by Richard Grimmett, Congressional Research Service) (PDF)

The World Bank Takes the Money and Runs from Chad (by Daphne Wysham, Institute for Policy Studies)

Chad: A new era for the Chad/Cameroon pipeline (by Antoine Lawson, Africa News Bulletin)

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Controversies

US Aids Chadian Government Despite Use of Child Soldiers

Chad is currently one of six African countries that receive military aid from the US government, despite the fact that the State Department reports the use of child soldiers by the Chadian military. A 2008 study by the Center for Defense Information (CDI) charged that, while child soldiers are often recruited and deployed by rebel groups over which the government has little control, in other cases the recruitment is being carried out directly by governments and government-supported paramilitaries. In Chad government security forces recruited and retained child soldiers and compelled forced labor by adults and children. Serious Abuses No Bar to US Military Aid (by William Fisher, Inter Press Service)

Chadian Oil Workers Protest Treatment by US Oil Subsidiary

In July 2006 oil fields workers in southern Chad launched a three-day strike against Esso-Tchad, ExxonMobil’s operating unit, over wage discrimination and neglect over implementation of a career development plan by the company. Oil workers in Chad were also upset over the level of their wages.

The strike by more than 400 workers lasted from July 4-6 in the Doba oil fields of Kome, Miandoum and Bolobo. Oil workers served notice that future strikes would occur, possibly disrupting production of the 200,000 barrel-a-day output sent through the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, unless workers’ demands were met. The strike was prompted by Esso-Tchad when it offered a pay increase that workers considered unacceptable. Management offered a 7.5% pay increase while workers wanted a 25% boost in order to bring pay levels closer to oil workers in Cameroon.

The oil worlers also staged three-day strikes later in July and again in April 2007.

The Doba fields, connected to the Cameroon port of Kribi by a 1,063-kilometre pipeline, belong to a consortium of oil companies, with ExxonMobil holding 40%, Malaysia’s Petronas 35%, and Chevron a 25% stake.

Esso-Tchad Worker Strike for Higher Pay (International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions)

Chad’s Oil Workers Target ExxonMobil for Strike Action (International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions)

Chevron Kicked Out of Chad

In August 2006 the government of Chad ordered two foreign energy companies to leave the country. Oil giant Chevron and Petronas of Malaysia were told to leave for failing to honor tax obligations. The problem arose after officials from Chevron and Petronas had reached an agreement with an official of the Chadian government who supposedly told the companies they would get a tax exemption. Other Chadian officials insisted such an arrangement was invalid because such authority rested with the national assembly, not a minister.

Chad’s surprise move followed its decision to create a national oil company that would become a partner in the country’s existing oil-producing consortium, led by Exxon Mobil and including Chevron and Petronas. Petronas owns 35% of the consortium, Chevron 25% and Exxon the remaining 40%.

Chevron and Petronas entered into a tax agreement in 2000 with the government, represented by Petroleum Minister Mahamat Hassan Nasser, when they replaced Elf and Shell as minority members of the consortium. The companies asserted that the agreement authorized them to use a special depreciation schedule allowing greater tax deductions than those afforded consortium partner Exxon Mobil. The government of Chad, however, claimed that the 2000 tax agreement was illegal because it was negotiated by officials without proper authority and was not vetted by the National Assembly. Chadian officials also announced plans to press charges against the negotiating officials and removed Nasser, as well as Economic Minister Mahamat Ali Hassan and Farming Minister Moucktar Moussa, from their posts. Chevron and Petronas considered the government of Chad to have violated its contractual obligations and planned to seek recourse through all diplomatic and legal means.

Chad, a landlocked country that began pumping crude in 2003, produces around 160,000 to 170,000 barrels a day.

Taxes, not nationalism, prompted oil dispute, Chad says (International Herald Tribune)

Chad Economy (Travel Document Systems)

Wolfowitz Threatens to Cutoff Aid to Chad

Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank and former top official in the US Department of Defense, upset numerous European and international aid officials in 2005 when he proposed cutting off aid to Chad and other poor countries. Wolfowitz said the move was part of his plan to tackle corruption in developing nations. In protest, the British government threatened to withhold a $94 million contribution to the World Bank. Wolfowitz capitulated and allowed aid to flow to Chad and provide debt relief to Congo.

Paul Wolfowitz ’65 Sparks Controversy at World Bank (Associated Press)

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Human Rights

In May 2006 President Idriss Déby, leader of the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), was elected to a third term in what unofficial observers characterized as an “orderly, but seriously flawed election” boycotted by the opposition. Déby has ruled the country since taking power in a 1990 coup. Political power remained concentrated in the hands of a northern oligarchy composed of the president’s Zaghawa ethnic group and its allies. The executive branch effectively dominated the legislature and judiciary, thereby eliminating potential challenges to a culture of impunity for the ruling minority. Civilian authorities did not maintain effective control of the security forces.

Fighting between the government and rebel groups continued despite peace accords signed with the United Front for Change (FUC) in December 2006 and with four other rebel groups on October 25. The October 25, 2007, agreement was not implemented. Violent interethnic conflict, banditry, and cross-border raids by Darfur-based militias also continued. Civilians were killed and tens of thousands were displaced. Approximately 231,000 Sudanese refugees, who had fled from violence from Darfur, lived in camps along the border.

The government’s human rights record remains poor. Human rights abuses included: limitation of citizens’ right to change their government; extrajudicial killings; politically motivated disappearances; torture and rape by security forces; security force impunity; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; lengthy pretrial detention; denial of a fair public trial; executive interference in the judiciary; arbitrary interference with privacy, family, and correspondence; use of excessive force and other abuses in internal conflict, including killings and use of child soldiers; limits on freedom of speech, press, and assembly, including harassment and detention of journalists; widespread official corruption; violence and societal discrimination against women, including the widespread practice of female genital mutilation (FGM); child abuse and trafficking; ethnic-based discrimination; repression of union activity; forced labor; and exploitive child labor.

Security forces arbitrarily arrested and reportedly tortured citizens, particularly those suspected of collaborating with rebels. Police continued to arrest journalists and non-governmental officials who criticized the government. There were reports that the government arrested numerous military defectors and members of their families. In July 2008, Amnesty International reported that Chad’s military had killed 68 people at Kouno in an attempt to arrest a Muslim spiritual leader who had threatened to launch a holy war “from Chad to Denmark.”

Rebel groups, ethnic-based militias, Darfur-based militias, and bandits have committed numerous human rights abuses. These abuses included killing, abducting, injuring, and displacing civilians; attacks against and destruction of villages; use of child soldiers; and attacks against humanitarian workers.

U.S. State Department

Human Rights Watch

Amnesty International

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Debate

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Past Ambassadors

W. Wendell Blancke
Appointment: Dec 12, 1960
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 9, 1961
Termination of Mission: Superseded, May 28, 1961

John A. Calhoun
Appointment: Apr 27, 1961
Presentation of Credentials: May 28, 1961
Termination of Mission: Left post, Apr 1, 1963

Brewster H. Morris
Appointment: Apr 25, 1963
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 12, 1963
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan 20, 1967

Sheldon B. Vance
Appointment: Aug 11, 1967
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 23, 1967
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 9, 1969

Terence A. Todman
Appointment: Jul 8, 1969
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 21, 1969
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 29, 1972

Edward W. Mulcahy
Appointment: Oct 12, 1972
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 6, 1972
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 23, 1974

Edward S. Little.
Appointment: Oct 3, 1974
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 7, 1974
Termination of Mission: Left post, Feb 23, 1976

William G. Bradford
Appointment: Sep 3, 1976
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 15, 1976
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 19, 1979

Donald R. Norland
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 17, 1979
Termination of Mission: Embassy closed Mar 24, 1980

Jay P. Moffat
Appointment: Apr 28, 1983
Presentation of Credentials: May 27, 1983
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 23, 1985

Note: Embassy N'Djamena was reopened Jan 15, 1982, with John Blane as Principal Officer and Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.

John Blane
Appointment: Aug 1, 1985
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 2, 1985
Termination of Mission: Left post, Oct 4, 1988

Robert L. Pugh
Appointment: Aug 12, 1988
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 15, 1988
Termination of Mission: Left post, Nov 15, 1989

Richard Wayne Bogosian
Appointment: Jun 27, 1990
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 4, 1990
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 21, 1993

Lawrence Everett Pope, 2nd
Appointment: Jul 16, 1993
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 3, 1993
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 26, 1996

David C. Halsted
Appointment: Jun 11, 1996
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 12, 1996
Termination of Mission: Left post Aug 6, 1999

Christopher E. Goldthwait
Appointment: Jul 7, 1999
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 10, 1999
Termination of Mission: Left post Jan 16, 2004

Marc M. Wall
Appointment: May 12, 2004
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 16, 2004
Termination of Mission: 2007

Former U.S. Ambassadors to Chad

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Chad's Ambassador to the U.S.

Djoumbe, Maintine

The north-central African nation of Chad—which is fourth (after Somalia, Congo and Sudan) on the Fund for Peace-Foreign Policy Failed States Index and is the only nation that uses child soldiers and yet receives U.S. military aid, sent a new ambassador to Washington last summer. Career diplomat Maitine Djoumbe presented his credentials to President Obama on July 30, 2012, succeeding Mahamoud Adam Bechir, who had served since December 2004. Djoumba is concurrently accredited as Chad's ambassador to Canada, as well.

Born New Year's Day 1953 in Moukoulou, Chad (then part of French Equatorial Africa), Djoumbe earned a Master's Degree in Administration and Management at the Administrative Staff College in Paris, France, in 1978.

In a long career at the Chad Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Djoumbe has served as ambassador to several other African nations, as well as other positions. He was ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1982 to 1987, ambassador to Sudan from 1987 to 1989, and ambassador to Algeria from 1989 to 1991.

Although the available public record is sketchy regarding Djoumbe's activities during the chaotic years after the 1990 coup that put Idriss Déby in power (where he remains today), Djoumbe emerged as deputy general director of the Foreign Ministry from 1999 to 2001. He then served as ambassador to the Central African Republic from 2001 to 2003, and as ambassador to Ethiopia from 2003 to 2007, concurrently accredited as Chad's permanent representative to the African Union while resident in Addis Ababa.

Djoumbe next received his first posting to Europe, serving as ambassador to Belgium from 2007 to 2010, concurrently accredited as Chad's permanent representative to the European Union while resident in Brussels.

In an odd career twist, Djoumbe then served as Minister of Mines and Geology from 2010 to 2011.

Maitine Djoumbe is married to Naomi Darkarim, with whom he has six children.

Official Biography

Entrevue avec son excellence Maitine Djoumbe, ambassadeur du Tchad aux Etats-Unis (Interview with Maitine Djoumbe) (video, in French)

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Chad's Embassy Web Site in the U.S.

Chad’s Embassy in the United States

2002 R St., NW

Washington, DC 20009

Telephone: (202) 462-4009

Fax: (202) 285-1937

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Content

Table of Contents
News
Overview
Basic Information
History
Newspapers
History of U.S. Relations with Chad
Current U.S. Relations with Chad
Where Does the Money Flow
Controversies
Human Rights
Debate
Past Ambassadors
Ambassador to the U.S.
Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
Comments
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U.S. Embassy web site

U.S. Ambassador to Chad

Hassane, Mahamat Nasser

Mahamat Nasser Hassane was appointed to be Chad’s ambassador to the United States in December, 2013. It’s the first diplomatic posting for Hassane, who has long experience in his country’s oil ministry.

Hassane was born in 1964 in N’djamena, Chad’s capital and largest city. He has a B.S. in geology from a university in the United Arab Emirates and a Ph.D with a specialization in public rights and African oil law from the University of Nantes in France.

Hassane’s government service began as a petroleum engineer in Chad’s Ministry of Energy. In 2003, he was appointed minister of oil and energy for the first time. Three years later, Hassane was fired by President Idriss Deby because some members of the consortium drilling for oil in Chad, ChevronTexaco and Petronas, didn’t pay the taxes that were levied. According to the newsletter Africa Energy Intelligence, Hassane was in the mid-2000s jailed by Deby, who runs a country some consider the most corrupt in the world.

After his departure from the Energy Ministry, Hassane was a consultant for a year, and then in 2007 was named a senior advisor to Deby. The following year, Hassane was once again named minister of oil and energy. Deby fired him from that post again in 2010, reportedly because Hassane pestered the oil consortium, led by ExxonMobil, about falling production.

In 2011, Hassane was named governor of the Bahar El Gazel region of central Chad. He held that job until being named to the Washington post.

Hassane is married.

-Steve Straehley

To Learn More:

Official Biography

Previous U.S. Ambassador to Chad

Knight, James

The troubled African nation of Chad will soon have a new ambassador from the U.S., a career member of the Senior Foreign Service who has spent almost his entire career serving in Africa. James A. Knight will succeed career diplomat Mark Boulware, who has served as U.S. Ambassador in ‘'Djamena since September 2010.

Born circa 1949, James Alcorn Knight served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War from 1970 to 1973. He earned a B.A. and an M.A. at Wichita State University and a PhD in Anthropology at the University of Chicago in 1988, with a dissertation entitled, “Being Twareg: Social Order and Process in Central Niger.”

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Knight worked as a software developer in the private sector and an economic development specialist for the U.S. Agency for International Development in the African nation of Niger.

At the State Department, Knight's early career assignments included service as the general services officer at the embassy in Lagos, Nigeria; political, economic and consular officer at the embassy in Banjul, Gambia, from 1993 to 1995; political officer at the embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar, from 1995 to 1998; and country affairs officer for Ethiopia in the Department’s Office of East African Affairs from 1998 to 2001.

Knight then served two straight stints as deputy chief of mission, first at the embassy in Praia, Cape Verde, from 2001 to 2003, and then at the embassy in Luanda, Angola, from 2004 to 2006. Like many other non-Middle East specialists, Knight was called on to serve a “hardship posting” in Iraq, serving as team leader of the Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mosul from 2006 to 2007.

Back in Washington, Knight served from 2007 to 2009 as director of the Office of East African Affairs, which has purview over relations with Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Knight was appointed to his first ambassadorship by President Barack Obama in 2009, serving as ambassador to the West African nation of Benin from September 2009 to December 2012, when he was appointed assistant chief of mission at the embassy in Baghdad.

Knight and his wife, Dr. Amelia Rector (Bell) Knight, a crisis management specialist at the Foreign Service Institute, have three sons and a daughter. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Henry Massey Rector (Democrat), who was governor of Arkansas from 1860 to 1862, and James Lusk Alcorn (Whig/Republican), who was governor of Mississippi from 1870 to 1871, U.S. Senator from 1871 to 1877, and founder of Alcorn State University. In 2008, the Knights contributed to the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, John McCain and Hillary Clinton.

Through no apparent fault of his own, Knight has been, in a sense, victimized by the notorious Internet confidence artists of Nigeria, who have run a scam using Knight's name.

To Learn More:

Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (pdf)

Biography