A son of Chad’s slain leader Idriss Deby Itno is to take over as president in place of his father, according to a charter released Wednesday by the presidency.
It said General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, 37, who on Tuesday was named transitional leader as head of a military council following his father’s death, will “occupy the functions of the president of the republic” and also serve as head of the armed forces.
However, there is currently confusion over the rumor that Mahamat, who succeeded his father yesterday, has been killed.
What began as a social media gossip found its way into the Chadian media.
BBC quoted different reports of the Chadian media about a shooting incident that allegedly happened at the presidential palace in N’Djamena, the country’s capital.
The report says the alleged shooting incident was as a result of a dispute within the Déby family over the appointment of Mahamat as his father’s successor.
But in a series of tweets, the private Tchadifos website quoted several unidentified sources as denying the alleged incident.
It said, “The president of the Transitional Military Council is alive and well. There was never any shooting at the palace and no quarrels with [Mahamat’s] brother Zakaria.”
