Chad will bury its late President, Idriss Deby on Friday (today).
President Emmanuel Macron of France is expected to attend the ceremony along with other heads of state and EU foreign policy Chief, Josep Borrell.
The funeral, complete with military honours, is scheduled to take place in the morning in N’Djamena’s main square, La Place de la Nation.
FirstNews learnt that the ceremony is to be followed by prayers at the capital’s Grand Mosque, after which Deby will be laid to rest in the village of Amdjarass next to his birthplace Berdoba, in the far east of the desert country near the border with Sudan.
Chad, with a well-respected fighting force, is central to the West’s fight against jihadists in the Sahel, where myriad Islamist extremist groups operate.
France’s 5,100-strong Barkhane anti-jihadist force is headquartered in N’Djamena, capital of the country of 16 million.
Chad was thrown into turmoil by Deby’s death, which was announced on Tuesday, just the day after he was declared the winner of an April 11 election — giving him a sixth mandate after 30 years at the helm.
(AFP)