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| - As veteran leader Idriss Deby Itno goes for a sixth term in Chad's presidential vote on Sunday, we look back on the key events of his 30 years at the helm of the huge mostly desert African state. Former army chief turned rebel leader, Deby seizes power in December 1990 when his troops enter the capital N'Djamena and send dictator Hissene Habre fleeing into exile in Senegal. After six years of transition towards democracy, he is elected president in 1996 in Chad's first multi-party election, bringing some of the political opposition into government. He is reelected in 2001 but comes under increasing pressure from the opposition accusing him of election fraud and human rights violations. A 2005 referendum approves changes to the constitution to remove limits on presidential terms. In late 2005 there are mass desertions in army ranks. Soldiers intent on overthrowing the regime set up in the east, near the border with Sudan, where they form armed movements. In 2006 N'Djamena breaks diplomatic ties with Khartoum for several months, accusing Sudan of aiding rebels who are seeking to overthrow Deby. In 2008 rebels attack the capital, reaching the gates of the presidential palace before being pushed back with the aid of French forces. Chad deploys 2,000 troops alongside French forces to counter advances by jihadists groups occupying northern Mali since 2012. In 2014 the French army establishes the headquarters of a new operation against jihadist groups in the region in N'Djamena. The following year Chad launches a ground offensive in neighbouring Nigeria against the radical Islamist group Boko Haram which is destabilising the countries bordering Lake Chad. Chad troops also join the G5 Sahel multinational force headquartered in Mauritania and the 13,000-man UN force in Mali, MINUSMA. In April 2016 Deby is reelected for a fifth mandate with around 60 percent of votes compared to 13 percent for the opposition leader Saleh Kebzabo. The opposition claims the vote is a "political hold-up". A month later a special court in Senegal sentences Habre to life in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity during his time in power in Chad. In 2018 parliament passes a controversial change to the constitution that further bolsters Deby's powers. The opposition boycotts the vote. The following year an armed group opposed to Deby -- the Union of Resistance Forces (UFR) led by his nephew Timan Erdimi -- enters Chad in columns of pick-ups. At N'Djamena's request, France carries out air strikes to stop their advance. Chad launches another major offensive against Boko Haram in 2020 after the death of some hundred of its soldiers in the Lake Chad area. In the weeks leading up to Sunday's vote the campaign has turned deadly. In February a gun battle erupts at the home of a presidential candidate after security forces try to arrest him. At least three people die. The next day Kebzabo, again the main opposition leader, announces he is withdrawing from the election and accuses Deby of using force to intimidate rivals and create a "climate of insecurity". The authorities ban demonstrations in the run-up to the election and Amnesty International criticise "unnecessary and disproportionate restrictions" on the right of peaceful assembly, as well as "arbitrary arrests". acm-ang-eab/fg/txw
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