Abbas Koty Yacoub (1952 , cnrdutchad.com .–22 October 1993 , U.S. Department of State.) was a
Chad
Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...
ian political figure and rebel leader.
Life
Abbas Koty was born in 1952, he belonged to the
Zaghawa Zaghawa may refer to:
* Zaghawa people
* Zaghawa language
Zaghawa is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Zaghawa people of east-central Chad (in the Sahel) and northwestern Sudan (Darfur). The people who speak this language call it Beria, ...
Kobé tribe and his family was linked to the Sultan of
Iriba
Iriba () is a small town in the Wadi Fira Region of the African country of Chad. It is known as part of the Kobé Department as well as having its own prefecture and area court. It is currently being served by the Iriba Airport.
Iriba has a ...
. Koty was Director of the Military Cabinet under Head of State
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 ...
from 1979 to June 1982, when Oueddei was ousted by
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 ...
. He then went into exile 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, ...
. Although opposed to Habré, he returned to Chad in 1985 as part of a policy of national reconciliation, and in 1986 he was named ''
chargé d'affaires
A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...
'' 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 ...
, serving there until 1988.
Koty then joined the rebel 1 April Movement and became a member of its Political Bureau, virtually transforming into the organization’s number two behind
Idriss Déby
Idriss Déby Itno ( '; 18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the sixth List of heads of state of Chad, president of Chad from 1991 until his death in 2021 during the 2021 Northern Chad offensive, No ...
Bada Abbas Maldoum
Bada Abbas Maldoum (1952-2006) was a politician from Chad who served as Vice President of Chad from December 1990 to February 1991. He has also served as Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is ...
Patriotic Salvation Movement
The Patriotic Salvation Movement (, MPS; ) is the ruling political party in Chad.
History
After Idriss Déby, an army commander who participated in an unsuccessful plot against President Hissène Habré in 1989, fled to Sudan, he and his sup ...
(MPS). After it seized power in Chad in December 1990, he was promoted to
colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
and became army chief of staff. In May 1991 he was appointed to the government as Minister of Defense, Veterans, and War Victims; in December 1991 he was moved to the position of Minister of Public Works and Transport. At an MPS party congress, Koty was elected to the party's Executive Committee and was placed in charge of defense and security.
On 18 June 1992 it was announced that a coup plot being organized by Koty had been thwarted."Jun 1992 - Coup attempt", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 38, June, 1992 Chad, Page 38952. Koty fled into exile in
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
, where he was one of the founders of the National Committee for Recovery (CNR) on 21 June. In November 1992, he was elected as the group's president. Unlike the MPS, which had a more secularist inclination, the CNR had a strong Islamist orientation.
On 15 August 1993"Chronology for Southerners in Chad" , cidcm.umd.edu. he signed a peace agreement with the government in
Tripoli, Libya
Tripoli, historically known as Tripoli-of-the-West, is the capital city, capital and largest city of Libya, with a population of about 1.317 million people in 2021. It is located in the northwest of Libya on the edge of the desert, on a point ...
,"Chad: Information on the circumstances surrounding the death of Abbas Kotti (Koty) and whether there were other deaths or arrests" Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada (UNHCR.org). and subsequently returned to Chad. On 16 October he signed a further agreement with the government, providing for the transformation of the CNR into a political party, as well as the integration of group's fighters into the army."Oct 1993 - Killing of CNRT leader", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 39, October, 1993 Chad, Page 39674. On 22 October, however, Koty was shot and killed in
N'Djamena
N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris.
Originally calle ...
by security forces. According to the government, he had been plotting a coup and had resisted arrest, but the CNR denied this and said that he was killed because Déby perceived him as a threat due to his popularity. A U.S. State Department human rights report also cast doubt on the official account, alleging that there was "strong evidence that this was a political killing". After his death, the leadership of the CNR fell to his brother Hissein Koty, who announced the armed struggle.