N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – Chad’s government ordered the German ambassador to leave the country within 48 hours, it said in a statement, a decision sources said was motivated by his comments about Chad’s delayed transition to civilian rule after a 2021 coup.
“This decision of the government is motivated by the discourteous attitude and the non-respect of diplomatic customs,” the country’s Communication Ministry said on Twitter late on Friday.
Two Chadian government sources said on Saturday that Ambassador Gordon Kricke had criticised delays in holding elections after the coup, and a ruling last year that will allow interim military leader Mahamat Idriss Deby to run in elections in 2024.
Germany’s foreign ministry did not comment on Kricke’s expulsion, but a source familiar with the ministry’s thinking said the move was “absolutely incomprehensible” and that it was in contact with Chadian authorities.
Military leaders in the Central African country originally promised an 18-month transition to elections when Deby seized power after his father, President Idriss Deby, was killed on the battlefield during a conflict with insurgents, ending decades of authoritarian rule.
But last year the junta extended the timeline by two years, delaying elections until October 2024, sparking protests in which dozens of civilians were killed, and worrying regional powers and the United States who have warned against extending military rule.
(Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane, Tom Sims and Joel Honore Kouam; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Toby Chopra)
