Idriss Déby Itno

President Idriss Déby Itno made many regional leaders jealous when his army managed what none of the others could do – to rout the Islamist militia Boko Haram in a series of battles that began last January...

President Idriss Déby Itno may have his own reasons for going to war with the jihadists but he expected to be rewarded and it came to pass...

A more robust Nigerian response to Boko Haram which many expect since last month's elections would relieve pressure in north Cameroon and might even diminish Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno's new status as the militants' toughest opponent...

The decision to base the 7 500 troops (5 000 from Nigeria 1 500 from Chad and the remainder from Cameroon Benin and Niger) in Ndjamena reflects the widespread view that President Idriss Déby Itno's battle-hardened army has proved the most effective in fighting jihadist groups in the region...

This led to a rare show of unity between President Idriss Déby Itno's government and the opposition: both see Chadian soldiers as UN cannon fodder...

At the Luanda summit in June Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno told him frankly that his mediation had failed and that nothing could be expected from the bad lot in charge in Bangui said a source who was present...

Defenders of Hollande's strategy insist that transparency human rights and democracy remain important but in the current security environment France believes it cannot shun key strategic partners such as President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania or Idriss Déby Itno of Chad who it sees as key partners in crisis zones such as the Sahel and CAR...

This is in contrast to the position of former President Nicolas Sarkozy when France was accused of discreetly assisting President Idriss Déby Itno to defeat Zaghawa rebel forces from eastern Chad in 2008 (AC Vol 49 No 7 La Françafrique est morte vive la Françafrique)...

While most summiteers were preoccupied by the problems of jihadism spreading in West and East Africa Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno as CEEAC Chairman called the leaders together obliging Samba-Panza to wait outside the room for all but five minutes of the meeting...

This task is left to ministers loyal to Séléka and to Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno who is unhappy about the current course of events and not looking forward to telling thousands of CAR citizens who have fled to Chad that he was right originally to back Séléka...