N'DJAMENA – N'President Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled Chad for more than 30 years and became an important ally to Western nations in the fight against Islamic extremism in Africa, has been killed while battling against rebels in the north.
He was 68. The news of his death, announced Tuesday by the military, came hours after he had been declared the winner of an election that would have given him another six years in power.
Deby, a northerner and French-trained army officer, rose through the ranks of the armed forces. In the 1980s, he was key in pushing pro-Libyan forces from Chad.
He then led the Sudanese-supported Patriotic Salvation Movement in a rebellion in 1990 to overthrow Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, who was later convicted of