text: Hours after the death of president Idriss Deby Itno, who ruled the poor Sahel country with an iron fist for three decades, his 37-year-old son Mahamat Idriss Deby quickly emerged as the new Chadian leader.
  The young 4 star general took charge of a transitional military council, appointing 14 of the most trusted generals to run Chad until “free and democratic” elections promised in 18 months’ time.
  Mahamat stood watch over his father as head of the presidential guard and was not anywhere in the list of Derby’s potential successors.
  And on Wednesday, the presidency released a charter saying the young general would “occupy the functions of the president of the republic” and also serve as head of the armed forces.
  Raised in Chad’s capital city N’Djamena, Mahamat was sent to a military school in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, where he stayed only a few months. he resumes military training back home in Chad, and subsequently joined the presidential guard.
  He rose through the command structure to become head of security at the presidential palace before taking over the whole DGSSIE structure.