Abba Siddick
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Abba Siddick (December 25, 1924 – December 1, 2017) was a Chadian politician and revolutionary. He entered active politics in the
Chadian Progressive Party The Chadian Progressive Party (, PPT), known as the National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution (, MNRCS) for the last two years of its existence, was the first African political party in Chad. It was a regional branch of the African ...
(PPT), a nationalist and radical African political party founded in 1947 and led by
Gabriel Lisette Gabriel Francisco Lisette (2 April 1919 – 3 March 2001) was a Chadian politician who played a key role in the decolonization of Chad. Biography Of African descent, he was born at Portobelo, Panama, Portobelo in Panama on 2 April 1919. He bec ...
. By 1958, he had left the PPT to form with others the
Chadian National Union The Chadian National Union (, UNT) was a radical Muslim political party in Chad. History The party was founded in 1958 by Issa Dana, Mahamut Outman and Abba Siddick. Created to lobby the "no" vote to the referendum on Chad's entry in the French ...
(UNT), a Muslim progressive party, but he turned quite early to the PPT and, after the independence of Chad, was minister of Education of the President François Tombalbaye. However the President's discrimination against Muslims in Chad brought him to become a member of the rebel insurgent group
FROLINAT FROLINAT (; ) was an insurgent rebel group active in Chad between 1966 and 1993. Origins The organization was the result of the political union between the leftist Chadian National Union (UNT), led by Ibrahim Abatcha, and the General Union of ...
, formed in 1966 to oppose the rule of Tombalbaye. After the death of the organization's first secretary-general in 1968, a vicious battle for leadership ensued, which terminated with the victory of Siddick in 1969, even though he was perceived as an Anti-
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
and suspected of being a moderate leftist and not having any revolutionary apprenticeship. He made Tripoli the headquarters of the front; and Libya took the place of Sudan as the key supplier of the FROLINAT. While he was internationally recognized as the head of the FROLINAT, he was losing control of the units on the ground. In 1971 he tried to reassert his authority by proposing to unify the insurgent forces active in Chad, but
Goukouni Oueddei Goukouni Oueddei ( '; born 1944) is a Chadian politician who served as President of Chad from 1979 to 1982. A northerner, Goukouni commanded FROLINAT rebels with Libyan support during the first Chadian Civil War against Chad's southern-domin ...
, head of the Second Liberation Army of the FROLINAT, broke with Siddick, who managed to at least keep a loose control over the First Liberation Army. Siddick's fragile authority depended much on
Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
n support (which was official from 1971) but when in 1973 there was a rapprochement between Libya and Chad, Siddick was forced to move his headquarters from Tripoli to
Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
. What nominal control was left over the troops on the ground completely vanished in 1976, when almost all his cadres rebelled against his authority and accused him of never listening to his lieutenants and of never going himself to the field of operations. The rebels, led by Mahamat Abba Saïd, assumed control over most of the First Liberation Army of the FROLINAT, that became known under his leadership simply as the First Army. Two years later, in 1978, he lost even his formal leadership of the movement when in a congress of the FROLINAT held in
Faya-Largeau Faya-Largeau (also known as Faya, or ) is the largest city in northern Chad and was the capital of the region of Bourkou-Ennedi-Tibesti. It is now in the Borkou Region, which was formed in 2008 from the Borkou Department of the former Bourkou-En ...
, Goukouni was nominated leader. The collapse of all central authority in Chad, in 1979, gave Siddick as leader of a so-called "Original FROLINAT" (''FROLINAT Originel'') a chance to re-enter the fray. But he,
Ahmat Acyl Acyl Ahmat Akhabach (1944–1982) was a Chadian Arab rebel leader during the First Chadian Civil War. He was the head of the Democratic Revolutionary Council until his death in 1982, and served as the foreign minister of Chad under Goukouni Oue ...
, Mohamat Said, and Adoum Dana were excluded from the first peace conference held at
Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...
in
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
in March. When these excluded people threatened to build a counter-government, they were invited to a new peace conference at Kano, in April. In this meeting, the resolution of
Hissène Habré Hissène Habré (Arabic: ''Ḥusaīn Ḥabrī'', Chadian Arabic: ; ; 13 August 1942 – 24 August 2021), also spelled Hissen Habré, was a Chadian politician and convicted war criminal who served as the 5th president of Chad from 1982 unt ...
and Goukouni Oueddei to not let those not present at Kano I to enter in the new government failed, as Sidick, Dana, and Acyl were accused by both of not having any troops on the ground. In retaliation, a pro-Libyan counter-government was formed by Siddick, Acyl, and Said, called Front for Joint Provisional Action (FACP), shortly after called Democratic Revolutionary Council (CDR). This led to the first conference of
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
, which was boycotted by the major forces: only at the second and last peace conference at Lagos did the Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT) finally emerge, in which all forces were represented. In the Lagos Accord, approved on the August 21, Goukouni Oueddei became president, Habré defence minister, Acyl foreign minister and siddick health minister. Siddick at first remained with Goukouni when Habré broke with the GUNT in 1980, but when in January 1981 Goukouni and the Libyan President Qaddafi issued a joint communiqué stating that Chad and Libya had agreed to "work for the realization of complete unity between the two countries", he and the Union pour la démocratie et la paix (UDP) tried to depose Goukouni and become independent of Libya. Shortly after this, Siddick broke with the GUNT and fled in exile to
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, ceasing to play any part in the civil war. Siddick died in Paris on December 1, 2017, at age 92.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddick, Abba 1924 births 2017 deaths Chadian National Union politicians Chadian Progressive Party politicians Chadian expatriates in Libya Chadian expatriates in Sudan