Chad has said it is ending a key defense cooperation deal with France, raising questions about Paris’s waning influence in Africa’s restive Sahel region.
Chad’s Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said it was time for his country to “affirm its full sovereignty”.
The announcement came a few hours after Koulamallah’s French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot, met with Chadian President Mahamat Deby.
Chad is a key participant in the West’s fight against Islamist militants in West Africa’s Sahel region.
But ahead of presidential elections in May, Chadian authorities ordered the withdrawal of US troops from the country, signaling a further estrangement from the country’s Western backers.
France currently has about 1,000 troops in the central African country providing intelligence and logistical support to the Chadian military at its bases, including the capital N’Djamena.
France, the former colonial ruler of Chad, had signed an updated version of the military and security agreement in 2019.
Chad is the latest country in Central and West Africa to cut its security pact with Paris.
Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have all cut deals with France and other Western countries in recent years, turning to Russia for support.
But Koulamallah told AFP news agency that Chad’s decision does not mark “a break with France, like Niger or elsewhere”.
France has been an important partner but Chad must “redefine its relationship according to the country’s priorities,” Koulamallah said at a press conference on Thursday.
Authorities stressed that the move would not affect Chad’s relations with France in other areas.
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