Chad Boots German Ambo

FILE: President of Chad Mahamat Idriss Deby gestures. Taken Nov. 12, 2021.

N'DJAMENA - "The ambassador of Germany to Chad, Jan Christian Gordon Kricke, took an Air France flight Saturday evening," said Foreign Minister Mahamat Saleh Annadif. His departure was also confirmed to AFP by government spokesperson Aziz Mahamat Saleh.

While the reasons for Ambassador Kricke's being deemed "Personna non-grata" and expelled from Chad were not publicly stated, a Chadean official, speaking anonymously, said it resulted from the government accusing the the diplomat of "interfering too much" in the "governance of the country", as well as for "remarks tending to divide Chadians."

In response to the ambassador's expulsion, a German foreign ministry official said the reasons given by N'Djamena were "absolutely incomprehensible."

Kricke had been Berlin's envoy to the African nation since July 2021. On April 20 of that year, Idriss Deby, then a general, was proclaimed head of state after his father was killed in a battle with insurgents.

Germany was one of a number of nations that called on Deby to return Chad to civilian rule.

This report was sourced from Agence Frtance-Presse and LeMonde.